What is the primary intervention strategy in Solution-Focused Brief Therapy?

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Multiple Choice

What is the primary intervention strategy in Solution-Focused Brief Therapy?

Solution-Focused Brief Therapy centers on moving clients toward practical change by focusing on solutions rather than problems. The primary intervention shifts attention to what works and how to build on it, using concrete techniques like exploring exceptions (moments when the problem didn’t occur or was milder), scaling questions (measuring progress and confidence on a 0–10 scale), and the miracle question (imagining a future where the problem is solved and identifying the first small steps to get there). This makes the process collaborative, brief, and goal-driven, emphasizing current strengths and actionable steps. The other approaches pull focus toward the past, unconstrained discussion, or unconscious dynamics, which aren’t the core of SFBT. Focusing on origins looks backward and analyzes causation; unstructured talk and free association are characteristic of exploratory psychodynamic work; and transference with interpretive insights centers on unconscious processes and therapist interpretations, not on practical, forward-moving solutions.

Solution-Focused Brief Therapy centers on moving clients toward practical change by focusing on solutions rather than problems. The primary intervention shifts attention to what works and how to build on it, using concrete techniques like exploring exceptions (moments when the problem didn’t occur or was milder), scaling questions (measuring progress and confidence on a 0–10 scale), and the miracle question (imagining a future where the problem is solved and identifying the first small steps to get there). This makes the process collaborative, brief, and goal-driven, emphasizing current strengths and actionable steps.

The other approaches pull focus toward the past, unconstrained discussion, or unconscious dynamics, which aren’t the core of SFBT. Focusing on origins looks backward and analyzes causation; unstructured talk and free association are characteristic of exploratory psychodynamic work; and transference with interpretive insights centers on unconscious processes and therapist interpretations, not on practical, forward-moving solutions.

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