Coaching practices for Solution Focused Brief Therapy
Describe almost anything you are working through and IX Coach finds the practices whose real-world fit is closest. For Solution Focused Brief Therapy, these are the strongest matches in the current practice library.
Does this sound like the set of challenges you might be facing?
- It feels like this is just how I am
- All day my attention goes straight to what went wrong
- I know everything I want to get away from, but if you asked me what "better" actually looks like
- Everything is genuinely awful right now and any talk of "what would better look like" feels like a slap
- I don’t believe I can actually pull this off, and the things I do that take real grit I just wave away as nothing
Practices that may help
- Solution-Focused Brief Therapy: Building On What Works
Solution-focused brief therapy (SFBT), developed by Steve de Shazer and Insoo Kim Berg, directs attention to what already works — client strengths, past successes, and desired futures — rather than to analyzing problems. Meta-analyses report small-to-moderate positive effects across a range of presenting issues, with particular strength in behavioral problems and depression in adult populations. - Exception Finding: When Is the Problem Already Less Severe?
Identify times when the problem was absent or less severe — these are evidence that solutions already exist.
Solution-Focused Brief Therapy: Building On What Works - The Formula First-Session Task and Between-Session Noticing
Assign between-session observation tasks that direct attention toward what’s already working.
Solution-Focused Brief Therapy: Building On What Works - Preferred Future: Describing Life When the Problem Is Solved
Ask the person to describe in concrete, behavioral detail what life looks like when things are better.
Solution-Focused Brief Therapy: Building On What Works - Problem-Solving Therapy, Made Practical
Problem-Solving Therapy (PST), developed by Nezu and D’Zurilla, treats depression and anxiety by building structured, step-by-step problem-solving skills — targeting the learned helplessness and avoidance that occur when people face stressful life problems without an effective coping framework. Multiple randomised trials support PST for depression, especially when linked to real-life problem load. - Coping Questions
When things seem terrible, ask how the person is managing at all — acknowledging and excavating their resilience.
Solution-Focused Brief Therapy: Building On What Works - Complimenting Strengths Throughout the Session
Deliberately name real strengths, efforts, and resources the person displays — not as praise but as information.
Solution-Focused Brief Therapy: Building On What Works - Evaluate the outcome and adjust
After implementing, honestly assess what worked, what didn’t, and what to do next.
Problem-Solving Therapy, Made Practical - Narrow the scope: a smaller problem space is a richer one
Restrict the problem to a specific user, use case, or scenario — the narrower the brief, the richer the possible solutions within it.
Deliberate Constraints, Made Practical - The Miracle Question: Designing Your Life Without the Problem
The miracle question — "Suppose a miracle happened and the problem was solved while you slept — how would you know? What would be different?" — is a solution-focused technique that bypasses problem-analysis and invites clients to describe, in concrete behavioral detail, what they actually want. It is a clinical tool within SFBT, which has moderate RCT support; the question itself has not been isolated in controlled trials but is widely used and clinically well-supported.
Related concerns
- Solution Focused Brief Therapy Building On What Works On A Budget
Solution-focused brief therapy (SFBT), developed by Steve de Shazer and Insoo Kim Berg, directs attention to what already works — client strengths, past successes, and desired futures — rather than to analyzing problems. Meta-analyses report small-to-moderate positive effects across a range of presenting issues, with particular strength in behavioral problems and depression in adult populations.
- Solution Focused Brief Therapy Building On What Works During A Big Change
Solution-focused brief therapy (SFBT), developed by Steve de Shazer and Insoo Kim Berg, directs attention to what already works — client strengths, past successes, and desired futures — rather than to analyzing problems. Meta-analyses report small-to-moderate positive effects across a range of presenting issues, with particular strength in behavioral problems and depression in adult populations.
- Solution Focused Brief Therapy Building On What Works In A New Job
Solution-focused brief therapy (SFBT), developed by Steve de Shazer and Insoo Kim Berg, directs attention to what already works — client strengths, past successes, and desired futures — rather than to analyzing problems. Meta-analyses report small-to-moderate positive effects across a range of presenting issues, with particular strength in behavioral problems and depression in adult populations.
- Solution Focused Brief Therapy Building On What Works When Starting Out
Solution-focused brief therapy (SFBT), developed by Steve de Shazer and Insoo Kim Berg, directs attention to what already works — client strengths, past successes, and desired futures — rather than to analyzing problems. Meta-analyses report small-to-moderate positive effects across a range of presenting issues, with particular strength in behavioral problems and depression in adult populations.
- What Is Solution Focused Therapy
Solution-focused brief therapy (SFBT), developed by Steve de Shazer and Insoo Kim Berg, directs attention to what already works — client strengths, past successes, and desired futures — rather than to analyzing problems. Meta-analyses report small-to-moderate positive effects across a range of presenting issues, with particular strength in behavioral problems and depression in adult populations.
- Solution Focused Brief Therapy Building On What Works After A Setback
Solution-focused brief therapy (SFBT), developed by Steve de Shazer and Insoo Kim Berg, directs attention to what already works — client strengths, past successes, and desired futures — rather than to analyzing problems. Meta-analyses report small-to-moderate positive effects across a range of presenting issues, with particular strength in behavioral problems and depression in adult populations.
Describe your situation in your own words to search the complete practice library.