SFBT

Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT)

Short, practical work that starts from where you want to get to rather than from an account of what is wrong.

Developed by: Steve de Shazer and Insoo Kim Berg, late 1970s–1980s
Where: Brief Family Therapy Center, Milwaukee, founded 1978
Typical length: Usually fewer than six sessions; can work in about two
Signature questions: The miracle question · scaling questions · exception finding

What it is

SFBT helps you identify goals and workable solutions instead of analysing the problem's history. The premise is that the change you are after is often already happening somewhere, in small amounts.

The miracle question asks you to imagine the problem solved overnight, then describe the first signs you would notice — which turns a vague wish into something observable.

Exception finding looks for the times the problem is milder or better handled, and works out what is different about those times so you can do more of it.

What it looks like in session

1Defining what “better” would actually look like, concretely
2The miracle question, and the details that follow from it
3Scaling questions: where are you on 0–10, and what would move it by one
4Hunting for exceptions — the days it was less bad, and why
5Small, testable next steps rather than a long-term plan
6A short course, with each session doing work rather than gathering history

What the evidence says

Multiple meta-analyses find SFBT effective, with effect sizes similar to other evidence-based approaches such as CBT and IPT — reached in fewer average sessions.

Early criticism that the research base was too thin has been answered over time; by 2010 the evidence was described as promising, and the approach is now supported as evidence-based by a range of federal and state agencies.

Because it is brief by design, it suits a specific stuck decision or a defined goal better than it suits long-standing, complex difficulties.

Nothing here is a prediction about your own treatment.

Often used for

A specific stuck decisionAcademic pressureShort-term goals

Wondering if SFBT is right for you?

You do not have to decide in advance. We work that out together in the first session, and often use more than one method.

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Other methods we use

CBT