The Art of Solution-focused Brief Therapy

A client-oriented goal that I wanted to achieve was supporting the client towards his preferred future. A solution-focused therapist aims to work collaboratively in order to support the client towards his preferred future. Working collaboratively with the client provokes a positive rapport. Understanding, warmth and acceptance shield the empathy which is necessary for building a positive relationship. To support my client’s preferred future I relied on building rapport and I managed to build rapport with the client and his supporters.

Regarding supporting the client towards his preferred future, my personal goals were being collaborative and breaking the ice by using an appropriate game. These goals are relevant to building positive rapport with a young child. Rapport and collaboration are essential elements for supporting the client towards his preferred future. My motto in order to support him towards his preferred future was “Work on your goals to make them true”. Mottos are useful in motivating a young person toward his goals. In my first session, I used an improvised board game to break the ice with the child. The child had to answer to some cards by expressing his thoughts about possible situations. Playing games and being creative is an appropriate way to break the ice and introduce SF therapy to children. In general, I am not creative. Thus, it was important for me to prepare a game that could help me break the ice with the child and build a positive rapport. Also, the game was essential for getting to know each other and it was difficult to present a game via Skype (the meetings were conducted via Skype). Hence, it was challenging to present the game that could help the young child put his trust in me in order to set his goals and be supported towards his goals. Also, I tried to be collaborative so as to make him feel comfortable regarding expressing his own goals. Building a therapeutical alliance is important during SF sessions, although the therapist is unlikely to reflect feelings back to the client. The SF therapist takes a collaborative stance towards client goals. Generally, I am leading and I use closed questions so collaboration was challenging for me. In SF therapy the therapist’s opening questioning follows the preliminary introductions, establishes rapport and explains the structure of the session.

On a scale of zero to ten, I would rate my desired outcome as a SF therapist at eight for supporting the child towards his preferred future. Regarding supporting the child towards his preferred future, I managed to build a highly positive rapport with the child via collaboration. He was willing and confident to set and share his goals. We worked on skills he wanted to improve (the second skill was about asking to play more with his friends after school) and he was confident to suggest a skill he would enjoy. He appreciated the fact that the skills he learnt were helpful towards his preferred future. He wanted to be more confident and our sessions supported his goal. Our rapport helped him express his goal and, as a consequence, his preferred future. His parents noticed that, during our sessions, their child was more open and managed to express more himself and his goals although, in general, he is an introverted child. Hence, I could not rate my preferred future for supporting the client towards his goals by 0. Also, regarding my personal goals, I could rate my preferred future for personal goals related to breaking the ice and collaboration by 8. I cannot rate them by 0 as I presented a board game that the child liked. Also, although the meetings were conducted via Skype, I managed to break the ice and to make the child (an anxious child) feel comfortable. According to him, he enjoyed the game and he liked that he expressed his emotions by answering the cards. Hence, the game was the first step to build collaboration in order to support him toward his preferred future. His parents noticed that he was very open comparing to the past and he was able to express more his goals and his preferred future. Furthermore, they noticed that I was collaborative. According to them, I did not put the child under pressure. I tried to avoid leading questions to give him the chance to choose the skill he really liked. Of course, I avoided leading questions due to the usage of standard SF questions such as miracle questions, scaling questions e.tc. Also, during presenting some videos, colleagues noticed the rapport and collaboration with the child. They noticed that I was not leading and, patiently, I helped the young child set his goals and his preferred future.

Also, a client-centered SF goal that I wanted to achieve was empowerment and specifically, attributing the client’s successes to his own actions. Reinforcing the “good” skill and not stopping the problem, is one of the most important goals in SF therapy. A SF therapist focuses on the positive aspect of a matter and uses the empowerment. Empowerment is about externalizing the problem outside of the individuals’ side. It is difficult for clients to talk about their shadow side. It was challenging to empower him as he was a shy child. Hence, it was highly important to attribute his success to his own actions so as to make him express more his thoughts and desires.

Regarding attributing his success to his own actions, I set the goal of helping the young child build his confidence, by asking for instances of success, planning the celebration and helping him to explore the benefits of the skills in order to increment his motivation. Also, I tried to be supportive so as to enhance his confidence. Planning celebration sends a message to the child that he will be able to learn the skill. The positive thing was that the child had been already motivated as our relationship was a customer relationship. He could recognize that he did not express his thoughts. In a customer-relationship the client sees himself as part of the problem and is motivated to change his difficulties. Also the therapist asks questions regarding instances when the problem does not occur or is less serious. To achieve these personal goals, supporting him and boosting his confidence, I tried to avoid being leading and to give him space to choose his goals without guiding him.

I would rate my preferred future as a SF therapist at eight for attributing client’s success to his own progress. I managed to empower him by attributing his successes to his own progress. Meeting by meeting, he was more confident to express himself. He noticed that practicing the skills made him more confident. Also, he recognized that his effort was significant in order to learn the skills and he had learnt the skills but he could learn them perfectly by practicing them. Also, during planning celebration, he was sure that he learnt the skills. I recognized his effort and he perceived his progress and effort were significant to succeed. These are the reasons why I do not rate my goal about attributing his success to his own actions by 0. Regarding my goal to be supportive and boost his confidence, I could rate my preferred future by 8. I cannot rate it by 0 because I was not leading and he became more confident. Even though he was hesitant about expressing himself during the first meeting, I managed to improve his confidence. His parents observed that I was waiting for his answers and I explained him that there were not correct or wrong answers when he was afraid of expressing himself. If the client struggles to express himself, the therapist has to be cooperative and supportive. Hence, meeting by meeting, he was more comfortable to express his thoughts and desires. To build his confidence we work on two different skills. The first skill was about asking for permission to do things he enjoyed during the dinner. The second skill was about asking for permission to play more with his friends after school. Hence, the skill was more challenging as he returned with friends so he had to express his desire in front of his friends. The first skill helped him build his confidence to learn the second, more difficult skill.

Creativity is an important skill which allows children to use their imagination in order to solve problems. A SF therapist is able to use examples and stories or animals, cartoons and heroes as power creatures so as to help children learn a new skill. The use of the power creatures is developmentally suitable for children as many children have imaginary friends. Creative power creatures can be helpful to children. As children are familiar with power creatures, power creatures can remind them to practice their skills in a cheerful way or reinforce their engagement in SF therapy. Also, power creatures enhance children’s confidence and competence in learning a new skill. Last but not least, the use of power creatures is very important. However, power creatures have to be used in combination with real people in a realistic way. My wish about the future is relevant to creativity. Personally, I am not enough creative. Even if creativity is a personal characteristic, it can be improved. Although I used a creative board game in order to engage the child in the procedure, I could be more creative. For example, I could explain the steps via examples and developmentally appropriate stories (appropriate to his age) relevant to the steps of SF therapy. Notwithstanding, I just explained verbally the steps and I asked questions. More creative explanations could make our meetings more amusing and help the child engage more in the procedure.

Flexibility is essential in problem solving. Many SF therapists are more flexible on how they work with clients than what the literature would suggest. Rapport is essential in SF therapy and neglecting it could be catastrophic. Flexibility can contribute to the evolution of SF therapy, although one should not underestimate “the constraints of managed care or dogmatic adherence to doctrine”. Flexibility and being “ebb and flow” ensure the therapeutic relationship. The therapist has to adapt to the child and not to just follow the structure.

A second SF theme I would like to improve is flexibility. Generally, I follow the structure and I am focused on my plan. During the meetings, I noticed that I followed my plan although I could change the steps. I followed the steps sequentially. I could be more flexible and follow the steps in a different order if it was more beneficial for the child. For example, I could use planning celebration and building confidence after the first four steps. During building confidence, parents explain why they believe their child is able to learn the skill and the therapist asks the child for instances of success in the past. Afterwards, steps such as choosing a power creature and gathering supporters could follow. In the beginning, I could use the steps which are related to confidence as my child was anxious during the first meeting. Last but not least, being “ebb and flow” is necessary when working with children. Hence, I could be more flexible during practicing the steps by using small breaks or moving the topic of discussion toward a more general issue.