About this guide
This is an unofficial guide for listeners that briefly describes Solution-Focused Therapy (SFT), a technique for helping people to solve their problems. SFT is also known as Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT).
This guide is not a self-help guide, although members and guests can read it. In SFT the member (or client) and the listener (or therapist) have separate roles, so that a do-it-yourself approach to SFT is not always practical.
In this guide there are sections describing each of SFT’s most common techniques quite briefly. The aim is to provide enough information for a listener who takes SFT seriously to use it in an effective semi-professional way, but this guide is not a substitute for professional training.
The guide is in many short sections. Most sections have a quiz at the end. You must correctly complete the quiz before you can move to the next section. There is no limit to the number of times you can retry each quiz.
To navigate back to a section you have completed, use either the little square links along the top of each page or the links in the table of contents here.
Contents
Author: @RarelyCharlie.
Parts of this guide describe good practice in the opinion of the author, but are not necessarily consistent with other guidance at 7 Cups.
The comic strip characters are Mimi and Eunice
adapted from originals ♡ CC-BY-SA Nina Paley.
Introduction
Solution Focused Therapy (SFT) is not active listening. Listeners at 7 Cups should not normally try to use SFT or any other form of therapy at 7 Cups. Listeners’ training makes this clear on the first page:
Your careful listening helps the other person to feel heard, valued, and understood. Keep in mind that active listening is not counseling or advice giving. You shouldn’t try to solve their problems.
However, some listeners are determined to ignore their training and try to solve members’ problems. For those listeners, this guide aims to provide some information about how to go about solving members’ problems in a professional way.
As a listener at 7 Cups, you do not really have the necessary training, professional support, license, or insurance to provide any form of therapy. You are anonymous and unaccountable. 7 Cups does not support listeners who try to provide therapy.
The 7 Cups guides on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and on depression (incorporating CBT) are not meant to encourage listeners to provide amateur ACT or CBT, and similarly this guide is not meant to encourage listeners to provide amateur SFT.
If you do try to solve a member’s problems, you should make it clear to the member before you start that you are no longer providing active listening, and that you are attempting amateur therapy instead. Do not sneak SFT into chats without warning the member very clearly about what you are doing.
In this guide the term member also includes guests. The term listener is used to mean the person providing the therapy. Other sources of information about SFT would normally use the terms client and either therapist or counselor for these roles.
What is SFT for?
Solution-Focused Therapy (SFT) was developed, based on an extensive research program, as a general way to address a wide variety of mental health problems. It differs significantly from other forms of therapy, and it differs significantly from active listening.
Because of these significant differences, SFT should not be mixed with other approaches. When you provide SFT you should focus exclusively and consistently on SFT. However, it is useful to add some reflection (active listening) because it helps to compensate for the limitations of online chats.
When you provide active listening, you should not add elements of SFT to the mix. You should focus exclusively and consistently on active listening. In particular, do not use compliments in active listening, because compliments are implied judgements.
How does SFT work?
SFT relies on the fact that everything changes constantly. No situation remains completely static.
When there’s a problem, the problem is not exactly the same all the time. In SFT you identify any useful changes and amplify them deliberately. Doing this gradually makes the problem less.
However, small changes can make a bigger difference than expected. When people hit on ideas for changes that work, problems can shrink or disappear very rapidly.
In SFT, the member is the expert on their own situation at all times. The listener does not need any knowledge or expertise, except to implement the SFT process. The listener does not give advice about the problem or make suggestions about the problem.
SFT essentially consists of compliments and questions. Both the compliments and the questions have specialized forms.
The focus of SFT is always on solutions, never on problems. In SFT the member is the expert who knows how to find the solutions, while the listener has no knowledge of the solutions. The listener’s only role is to direct the course of the therapy.
SFT can be used to solve a single problem or a collection of problems. It focuses on a future where the problems do not exist, or where they are less troublesome. It avoids any focus on the problems themselves or on their causes.
Research has shown that these elements of SFBT are the things that enable people to discover solutions to their problems very quickly. SFT rapidly creates hope, and it gives members complete control over the solutions to their problems.
After the quiz, the next section describes how you can get started with SFT.
- Mark each statement true or false:
- This guide is designed to help members solve problems for themselves.# This guide is not a self help guide.
- You can try this quiz again and again until you get all the answers correct.#You can try all the quizzes in this guide as many times as you need to.
- SFT is a skill used in active listening.# SFT is not active listening.
- It’s OK to sneak SFT into chats without telling the member.# Do not use SFT without the member’s informed consent.
- 7 Cups provides full insurance for listeners who attempt amateur therapy.# 7 Cups does not support listeners who attempt amateur therapy in any way.
- SFT can be used along with ACT and CBT to treat mental illness.# SFT should not be mixed with other approaches, and at 7 Cups listeners do not treat mental illness.
- Compliments are implied judgements.#Compliments imply positive jusgements.
- SFT involves asking questions.#SFT consists of compliments and questions.
- SFT focuses on the future.#SFT focuses on a future when the member’s problems will have been solved.
- SFT focuses on the past# SFT focus on the future.
Getting started
You might offer the possibility of SFT during a normal active listening chat. Then, if the member agrees, begin the SFT in your next chat.
Offering SFT is not always appropriate. The professional therapists at 7 Cups are in a better position to help members solve their problems, and you should refer members for professional therapy whenever that is possible for them.
If you do offer SFT, it is best not to mix active listening and SFT in the same chat, because the techniques differ. The differences will be explored later in this guide.
To provide SFT and solve a member’s problems, arrange your chats with the member somewhat like a therapist would. Arrange for each chat to last a fixed time—maybe 45 minutes, maybe an hour, maybe 90 minutes.
Arrange a series of regular chats, maybe once a week, maybe twice a week. The member will need time between chats to observe and experiment, so that very frequent chats can be less effective.
The total number of SFT chats required can be left open, because it is best if the member decides for themselves when their problems are effectively solved.
Relationships
In SFT the relationship between listener and member progresses through three stages. Some members go immediately to the third stage, some go immediately to the second stage, and some take time at the first stage before moving on.
The three stages are often known as the visitor relationship, the complainer relationship, and the customer relationship, but these terms are not very meaningful in themselves—they are just a way to remember the three stages.
A member who has more than one problem might be at different stages for each of the different problems. This can make SFT quite complicated, because as a listener you need a clear sense of your relationship with the member in regard to each of their problems separately. Use your Notes feature in 7 Cups to keep track.
Visitors
A member who is at the visitor stage believes either:
- there is no problem to be solved, or
- there’s a problem but it’s someone else’s problem.
At this stage your role as a listener is to provide hope and optimism by complimenting the member. The next section of this guide will describe compliments in more detail.
Complainers
A member who is at the complainer stage has a clear understanding of the problem and has a goal.
However, at this stage they either:
- do not believe they can be part of the solution, or
- believe that someone else must take action to solve the problem.
At this stage your role as a listener is to continue to provide hope and optimism, and also to encourage observations about possible partial solutions.
Customers
A member who is at the customer stage is:
- aware that they are part of the solution, and is
- willing to take action to solve the problem.
At this stage your role as a listener is to continue to provide hope and optimism, continue to encourage observations about partial solutions, and also to encourage actions that may help to solve the problem.
You can see that as the member progresses through the three stages, your role as a listener accumulates more possibilities.
Remember, however, that the member may be at different stages for different problems.
After the quiz, the next section describes how compliments are used in SFT.
- Mark each statement true or false:
- In SFT, small changes often make a big difference.#SFT relies on making small changes that progress towards a solution to the problem.
- Listeners who use SFT must be experts on the type of problem the member needs to solve.# In SFT the member is the expert.
- To provide effective SFT, two chats a day are normally required.# The member will need time between chats to observe and experiment.
- In SFT the member’s relationship to each problem goes through up to three stages.#In this guide they are known as the visitor, complainer and customer stages.
- Listeners providing SFT encourage hope and optimism.#Hope and optimism are essential to SFT.
- Listeners providing SFT encourage realistic analysis of past events.# SFT focuses on the future, and does not involve analysis.
- At the customer stage, a member is willing to take action.#Willingness to take action is how the customer stage is identified.
- At the visitor stage, a member has identified clear goals.# Clear goals are characteristic of the complainer and customer stages.
- At the complainer stage, a member is willing to try anything to solve the problem.# Willingness to take action is how the customer stage is identified.
Compliments
Compliments are an essential part of SFT. They provide members with:
- clarity about their problem, and
- reassurance, optimism, and hope for the future.
When you provide SFT, you compliment the member throughout. This is quite different from active listening, where you main job is reflection and you avoid compliments (because they are judgemental).
In SFT you deliberately express positive judgements about the member. Do not express negative judgements, and do not introduce extra problems!
Compliments should refer to specific things the member did, or to specific qualities the member has. They must not be vague. Do not use vague words like “this” and “that”, but instead say exactly who and what you are referring to.
There are various ways you can construct compliments. Some of them are described here.
Reassurance
Tell the member their situation is normal and acceptable. For example:
| Listener: | It’s OK for you to feel bad after you were rejected twice. |
Or:
| Listener: | Many people have great difficulty deciding whether to leave the country they grew up in. |
Optimism
Tell the member they are capable and skilled. For example:
| Listener: | Your son is lucky to have a father who cares about him as much as you do. |
Or:
| Listener: | You have a great sensitivity to people. |
Hope
Tell the member they are making progress towards solving the problem. For example:
| Listener: | Noticing that you feel happy on Mondays is an important observation. |
Or:
| Listener: | Trying different routes on your commute was a smart strategy. |
Indirect compliments
It can also be useful to give compliments indirectly or by implication.
| Listener: | What would your girlfriend say is your most attractive quality? |
(This indirectly compliments the member on being attractive.)
| Listener: | How did you know to ask your mother? |
(This indirectly compliments the member on knowing their mother was the right person to ask.)
| Listener: | What did you say to persuade your boss so quickly? |
(This indirectly compliments the member on being persuasive.)
Every SFT session should end with compliments no matter how you feel the session went, and no matter how you really feel about the member! For example:
| Listener: | We’ve had a challenging session this week but you didn’t give up. |
Or:
| Listener: | Your idea of making a list of questions to ask your doctor was really smart. |
After the quiz, the next section describes goals in SFT.
- Mark each statement true or false:
- When a member is aware they are part of the solution and must take action, they are at the customer stage.#This is how the customer stage is defined.
- SFT has no scientific basis.# SFT was developed based on an extensive research program.
- SFT only works for members who have just one problem.# SFT works for multiple problems.
- Compliments must be avoided in SFT, because they can give members false hope.# Compliments are used extensively in SFT, because they give members genuine hope.
- The most effective compliments are vague, because they can apply to a wide range of situations.# Compliments should be as specific as possible.
- Members should be made to feel that their problems are unique.# Members should be made to feel that their problems are normal.
- Indirect compliments are a useful way to provide reassurance, optimism, and hope for the future.#All compliments provide reassurance, optimism, and hope.
- In SFT, compliments must only be used at the end of each chat.# In SFT, compliments are used throughout.
- In SFT, positive judgements and negative judgements must be carefully balanced to avoid bias.# In SFT, do not make negative judgements, only positive judgements (compliments).
Goals I
In SFT the approach to problems is always the same:
- The member imagines a future when the problem is solved, or is less problematic.
- The member identifes what will be different about that future time.
Thus the member’s goals are to make things different.
How to make things different has nothing to do with you as a listener. The member is the expert. As a listener, you can compliment the member and then ask a question like this:
| Listener: | You seem to have thought about your situation deeply. What needs to happen so that things will be different in future? |
But do not go into detail about who will do what. That’s entirely up to the member. Asking “What needs to happen?” is a good way to avoid personalizing the question.
No problem?
If nothing will be different, then there isn’t really a problem (but the member might have some other problem).
“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”
The member always defines what will be different. The listener never makes suggestions. The purpose of SFT is to make progress toward the member’s goals, not the listener’s.
A member might sometimes describe a non-problem, in the sense that nothing needs to change. When that happens, simply compliment the member:
| Listener: | You’ve discovered ways to cope with that aspect of the situation without any help from anyone! |
Understanding the problem
It is not important for the listener to understand the problem. This means that SFT works well in cross-cultural situations where the member and the listener are from different cultures with different assumptions.
If the member says things that you don’t agree with, always ignore your own opinions and tell the member you agree. The member is the expert on their own life.
Goals should be limited and objective, so that they are easy to reach.
Causes
Limit discussion of the problem, its causes, and any past events, by changing the subject as soon as possible to the future and how it can be different.
| Member: | I need to understand why I’ve become so anxious. |
| Listener: | If you were no longer anxious, but you never got to understand why you’d been anxious, would that be good enough? |
(Notice how the listener changes the subject to a future in which the member is not anxious.)
Goals for the chat
It’s useful to ask the member to define goals for each chat, in addition to overall goals for solving the problem. For example:
| Listener: | What are your best hopes for today’s chat? |
Or:
| Listener: | What needs to happen in this chat so that you’ll think it was worth your while? |
After the quiz, the next section describes some special ways that goals are indentified in SFT.
- Mark each statement true or false:
- Telling a member they are capable and skilled is a way to encourage optimism.#It is one of the ways you can compliment members.
- Your role as a listener in SFT always includes encouraging hope and optimism.#Hope, optimism and reassurance are the purpose of compliments.
- Your role as a listener in SFT always includes sensitivity to the member’s past.# SFT focuses on the future.
- Your role as a listener in SFT always requires expert knowledge of the problem.# In SFT the member is the expert on their problems.
- In SFT the member states their goals and the listener identifes what will be different in future.# In SFT the member identifes what will be different in future.
- “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” is a useful saying.#It is one of the principles of SFT.
- In SFT the listener suggests possible goals and the member chooses the most appropriate ones.# The purpose of SFT is to make progress toward the member’s goals, not the listener’s.
- Members sometimes say things listeners do not feel they agree with.#Whenever this happens, the listener should tell the member they agree.
- When a member starts discussing the cause of a problem, change the subject.#Change the sublect to the future and how it will be different.
Goals II
SFT has some specialized techniques for identifying goals. The miracle question is for identifying overall goals, while scaling questions are for identifying short-term goals and for tracking progress.
The Miracle Question
A key question to ask each member is known in SFT as the “miracle question”. It’s important to ask each member the miracle question because it goes to the heart of the SFT method.
The miracle question goes something like this:
| Listener: | This may seem like a strange question, but even so I’d like you to try and answer it thoughtfully. |
| Imagine that tonight while you are asleep, a miracle happens and the problem you’ve been telling me about is completely solved. | |
| When you wake up, how will you know that a miracle happened and your problem has been solved? |
When the member replies, follow up with questions to get details about what changes the miracle caused.
| Listener: | What else will you notice? |
And:
| Listener: | What will other people notice? |
The miracle question focuses the member’s thinking on the future and makes them consider what’s possible. Then you can try and link the miracle to the present:
| Listener: | Which parts of the miracle have you noticed happening already, even if it’s only occasionally or partly? |
Then:
| Listener: | What is different about those times? |
Scaling
Scaling questions help the member to measure the effect a problem is having on them, and to track gradual improvements. Sometimes, clients are not aware of their own progress, and scaling questions help to make them aware.
For example, you could use a scale of 1 to 10 when you ask scaling questions. On this scale, 1 means the member is entirely a victim of the problem, while 10 means the member is entirely free from the problem. Always use the same scale for all your scaling questions.
| Listener: | Imagine a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 means you are completely victim to your problem, and 10 means you are completely free from your problem. Where are you on that scale right now? |
Follow up by asking the member what would have to happen to move the situation up the scale by one point between now and the next session.
| Listener: | What would have to happen for your situation to change from 3 on the scale, where it is now, to 4 on the scale by next week when we chat again? |
For members who have more than one problem, each problem needs separate scaling questions. As a listener you must keep track of them. Use your Notes for things like this.
It often happens that situations change more rapidly than one point on the member’s scale, once the member hits on a solution. In each chat ask the scaling question again, making no assumptions about how the situation might have changed.
When the situation changes on the member’s scale, ask for other observations about the change:
| Listener: | What do you notice is different now about your situation? |
Assume that change is constantly occurring, and is to be expected:
| Listener: | What kinds of changes you would like to happen next? |
After the quiz, the next section describes questions about coping.
- Mark each statement true or false:
- The miracle question is used to identify the member’s goals.#The miracle question is used to identify overall goals.
- The miracle question is used to convince the member to accept things as they are.# The miracle question identifies what will change.
- Scaling questions make the member’s problems seem small and manageable.# Scaling questions track progress.
- Asking the miracle question in every chat helps to track progress.# Asking scaling questions in every chat helps to track progress.
- SFT is based on the expectation that a miracle will happen.# SFT uses the miracle question to identify goals.
- SFT is based on step-by-step progress towards the member’s goals.#Scaling questions are used to track that progress.
- Sometimes members solve their problems unexpectedly quickly.#Don’t assume that progress will always take many steps.
- In SFT, listeners must accurately identify the causes of the member’s problems.# SFT is focused on the future, not on causes.
- In SFT, listeners must help members to focus on what will be different in future.#This lies at the heart of SFT.
Coping
Members have inner resources and strengths, and they are the experts on their own situation. It is their inner resources and strengths that will solve their problems. Questions about coping establish the member’s expertise and their ability to influence their own situation.
The general principles are:
If it works, do it more.
And:
If it doesn’t work, don’t do it again—do something different instead.
Other people in the member’s life can contribute to the solution. For example, sometimes friends, family members, religious leaders and other professionals will play their part. But it is not your role as a listener to become a part of the member’s life.
Always communicate respect, and always value the member’s ability to cope. Acknowledge the ways in which the member has already taken steps to address the problem, or at least to survive it, so the member becomes more motivated and confident in themselves.
Imagining the future
Encourage the member to describe in detail an imaginary future where the problem is less troublesome, or where they are free from the problem.
Then ask about the times when parts of this imaginary future have might have happened already.
| Member: | In the future, when I don’t have to worry about her so much of the time, I’ll be able to enjoy relaxing at home. |
| Listener: | Are there ever times when you are able to enjoy relaxing at home now? |
And:
| Listener: | What’s is it that makes those times different from the rest of the time? |
And then:
| Listener: | What would have to happen so that things are like that more often? |
Identifying what works
Sometimes a more general question about coping is useful:
| Listener: | Tell me about the things you do well? |
Or focus on what the member has already tried:
| Listener: | What have you tried to do to make it less of a problem? |
And follow up with:
| Listener: | Did you find that worked, even a little? |
Questions like these help the member to notice patterns of success. As a listener, your role is to highlight these patterns. Do not highlight patterns of failure—change the subject to success.
Exceptions
No problem remains equally problematic all the time. There are always exceptions that can be discovered and amplified. These will be the times when the member felt better, or when the problem did not seem so severe.
Questions about exceptions help the member to identify these times. For example:
| Listener: | Have there ever been times when the problem you described to me didn’t happen, or felt less severe to you? |
When the member can identify an exception, ask follow-up questions to establish the details. Avoid any change of subject back to the problem or its causes.
After the quiz, the next section describes ending an SFT chat.
- Mark each statement true or false:
- In SFT, listeners must never change the subject.# Listeners change the subject if the chat loses its focus on how the future will be different.
- For SFT to work well, the member and the listener should have the same cultural background.# SFT works well when member and listener are from different cultures.
- Listeners using SFT must be completely open and honest about their own opinions.# Listeners using SFT must always agree with the member, because the member is the expert on their own life.
- Members’ inner resources and strengths will solve their problems.#This is a central assumption in SFT.
- Members’ inner resources and strengths, together with a listener’s expert advice, are the basis of SFT.# SFT is based only on members’ inner resources and strengths. Listeners should not give advice.
- Other people in a member’s life can contribute to a problem’s solution.#Other people are often involved in solutions.
- Listeners can contribute to a problem’s solution by becoming involved in the member’s life in a caring way.# Listeners should not become involved in members’ lives.
- SFT encourages members to imagine a better future.#This is how SFT works.
- SFT encourages members to accept that their problems are the fault of other people.# SFT encourages members to own their problems and become “customers” for solutions.
Ending a chat
There is a tradition in SFT of taking a short break towards the end of a session. You can do this in a chat by taking a break of 5 minutes or so, leaving 10 minutes to wrap up the chat after your return. This means the ending of a chat has a structure to it.
The break
Introduce the break to the member as a helpful thing to do:
| Listener: | It will be helpful if we take a short break now, and come back after 5 minutes or so to wrap up our chat. |
| You can use the break to reflect on our chat and how you want to make use of the time until our next chat. |
Catching up
Before the break itself, ask a catch-up question like this:
| Listener: | Is there anything else you feel I need to know before we take the break? |
At this time members often say something significant that they would not otherwise have revealed.
During the break
A real-life SFT therapist would often use the break to consult with a colleague about the case, but at 7 Cups that is not allowed. At 7 Cups, never discuss a member with anyone else.
Use the break to reflect on the chat, to think of a homework task for the member, and to think up compliments to end the chat with.
Wrapping up
When wrapping up the chat, compliment the member in a specific and factual way that relates to the chat you’ve just had. For example:
| Listener: | I’ve been impressed by how honest you’ve been with me about your feelings of despair. |
Or:
| Listener: | You’ve been able to describe your anxieties in amazing detail that shows what a thoughtful and articulate person you are. |
For problems the member has a complainer or customer relationship to, suggest a homework task based on the things you have been chatting about, but for problems that the member has a visitor relationship to, don’t suggest a task.
Visitor homework
For a visitor (the member has no problem, has no goal, or it’s someone else’s problem), only give compliments, no task.
Complainer homework
For a complainer (the member has a goal, but does not want to own the problem), give compliments and an observation task.
For example:
| Listener: | Every day between now and our next chat, I’d like you to notice and observe carefully any little things that you want to continue to happen. Make notes, if you like, so you can describe them. |
Customer homework
For a customer (the member has a goal and takes ownership of the problem), give compliments and either an observation task or an action task.
When you suggest an action task, ensure it is possible. For example:
| Listener: | You said noticed that a couple of times when you happened to arrive home a little early there seemed to be less of a problem. |
| Between now and our next chat, I’d like you to arrive home a little early deliberately, and to observe what effect that has. Then we can discuss it next time. |
After the quiz, the next section is a cheat sheet that you can use as a quick reference to how SFT works.
- Mark each statement true or false:
- The term visitor in SFT is used to mean a member who is only seeking information about a problem.# The term visitor means a member who does not think they have a problem at all.
- SFT is a method of self help that professional counselors usually avoid.# SFT is not self help, and many professional counselors use it.
- Chats for SFT usually last for an agreed time.#Typical lengths of chats are 45 minutes, an hour, or 90 minutes.
- In SFT, a 5-minute break near the end of the chat can be useful.#A break is a traditional part of SFT.
- Listeners should discuss all their members’ problems with mentors, to ensure they give quality advice.# Listeners must not discuss details of any chat with anyone, and must not give advice.
- Listeners using SFT frequently compliment members.#Compliments provide reassurance, optimism, and hope for the future.
- In SFT, listeners often end a chat by complimenting the member.#Compliments are given throughout SFT.
- Listeners should give homework tasks to members who are at the complainer or customer stage in relation to a problem.#Visitors should only receive compliments.
- Members at the complainer stage in relation to a problem should not receive compliments, in case they get stuck at that stage.# In SFT all members should receive compliments.
Cheat sheet
Here’s a summary of SFT in bullet points.
Three Principles
- “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!”
- “If it works, do it more!”
- “If it doesn’t work, stop doing it!”
Four steps to a solution
- Identify what it is that you want.
- Specify how you will know when you have it.
- Observe what you are already doing to get it.
- Predict what would be happening if you were a little closer to it.
SFT and active listening
Here are some contrasts between SFT and active listening (AL):
| SFT: | Your goal as a listener is for the member to solve their problem. |
| AL: | Your goal as a listener is to provide emotional support. |
| SFT: | Give compliments. |
| AL: | Avoid judgements (including compliments) |
| SFT: | Focus on the future. |
| AL: | Focus on current emotions. |
| SFT: | Change the subject if the member loses focus on solutions. |
| AL: | Talk about whatever the member wants to talk about, and don’t change the subject. |
| SFT: | Always ask the miracle question. |
| AL: | Don’t ask questions, except to clarify the member’s current situation. |
| SFT: | Ask scaling questions to track progress. |
| AL: | Provide emotional support, not progress. |
Here are some similarities:
| SFT: | Be professional. Don’t sneak SFT into chats without the member’s informed consent. |
| AL: | Be professional. Don’t sneak SFT into chats without the member’s informed consent. |
| SFT: | The member is the expert on their problem. Don’t give advice or make suggestions. |
| AL: | The member is here for emotional support. Don’t give advice or make suggestions. |
After the quiz, the guide concludes with some links to further reading.
- Mark each statement true or false:
- In active listening focus on emotions, but in SFT focus on the future#Active listening and SFT are different in this way.
- In active listening suggest options, but in SFT focus on very clear advice.# Listeners should not give advice or make suggestions.
- In SFT, and also in active listening, be professional.#Always be professional.
- This guide is equivalent to professional training in SFT.# This guide is only a brief introduction.
- Members must identify the problems they want to solve.#Identifying a problem is the first step towards solving it.
- Members must accept that they do not have the inner resources to solve their problems.# It is their inner resources and strengths that will solve their problems.
- It is useful to continue doing things that don’t solve the problem, because change can be stressful.# “If it doesn’t work, stop doing it!”
- Compliments should be avoided because they can give members unrealistic beliefs about their strengths.# Compliments are an essential part of SFT.
- Problems are often made worse by trying to imagine the future.# Imagining a better future is an essential part of SFT.
Conclusion
You have now completed the guide.
To review the guide, use either the links across the top of each page or the table of contents on the first page. You do not have to answer the quizzes again.
To reset the guide and answer the quizzes again, click here: Reset
This guide has only been a brief introduction to SFT. Further information about it is widely available.
Here is some further reading:
-
What is Solution Focused Therapy?
at the Institute for Solution-Focused Therapy in the US -
Frequently Asked Questions
at BRIEF, The Centre for Solution Focused Practice in the UK
