HOW IS THIS THERAPY DIFFERENT THAN OTHER THERAPIES?
Solution focused brief therapy is a category of psychotherapy with unique features designed to move individuals very quickly toward a sense of being in charge of their own life. In this approach, the therapist and client have a fundamental understanding that any session could be the last one. This creates an atmosphere of immediacy and intense focus that many people find powerfully uplifting and helpful.
The majority of people who seek therapy are searching for relief from overwhelming feelings of sadness, worry, anger or loneliness. Therapy is used as a tool to develop coping strategies and a sense of relief from a state of chronic emotional pain. Solution focused brief therapy teaches people how to break down overwhelming problems into individual, meaningful steps that make immediate, measurable progress toward specific, stated goals.
Solution focused therapy teaches people how to become aware of their strengths and achievements. It brings a laser-like point of attention to describing what you want, how you’ll make it happen and when you know you’ve reached your goal. Each session consists of three segments that are devoted 1) to thinking about what kind of success you want to achieve, then 2) calibrating where you are in relation to this goal at the present moment in your life, and finally, 3) noticing what you expect will happen as you progress through every step on your way to your goal.
In solution focused therapy, I teach you how to ask yourself the questions that help you move forward in your life. You are responsible for your progress in a very clear way: either you do what you know you have to do, or you don’t. If you do what you have to, your life gets better. If you don’t, you know exactly what to do to get on track. What makes this kind of brief therapy different from other forms of treatment is what you learn to do with your eyes: instead of searching to understand your problems, you look for insight about solutions.
QUESTION: HOW LONG IS SHORT TERM THERAPY?
Answer: Not one session more than necessary.
Short term therapy usually lasts four to six sessions, but you are in control of the length of treatment. Some solutions take longer to find and implement than others. When you feel that you’ve gotten what you came for, you’re done. It’s up to you. When you get there, you’ll know.
