Solution-Focused Therapy

How can therapy help an individual reach a goal?

Different techniques utilized in therapy can lead to different outcomes.  Likewise, different therapies can focus on utilizing different techniques. 

Solution-Focused therapy, as it sounds, attempts to work with the person to find a solution instead of focusing on the issues that may have initially prompted an individual to seek therapy.

When a counselor and client work together using Solution-Focused therapy, the aim of the therapy session(s) is to imagine an ideal future and determine steps to achieve that goal. 

In this portion of the counseling, the client and counselor look back at past experiences and work together to find which aspects of the client’s current life s/he would like to change or improve and which aspects the client would like to remain as constant or similar as possible.   

In order to identify the steps toward an ideal future, the client and counselor must first investigate the client’s current abilities, skills, and resources the client has or may have access to.  Identification of these may help the counselor and client arrive at what sort of steps need to be taken first.

This type of therapy may be found in several settings, including career and personal counseling.

Solution-Focused therapy works toward creating a realistic plan to help the client get to where s/he would like to be by investigating previous experiences to determine ideals.