
Brief Therapy
- Brief Therapy Definition. Brief therapy is a type of counseling that is time limited and present oriented. ...
- History of Brief Therapy. Brief therapy began to gain attention in the 1950s, following the increase in popularity of behavior therapy and family therapy.
- Types of Brief Therapy. There are many approaches to brief therapy. ...
- Future Directions. ...
What does brief therapy mean in psychology?
Brief Therapy Definition Brief therapy is a type of counseling that is time limited and present oriented. Brief therapy focuses on the client’s presenting symptoms and current life circumstances, and it emphasizes the strengths and resources of the client. The therapist in brief therapy is active and directive.
Is Solution-Focused Brief Therapy RIGHT for You?
If you’d rather focus on creating solutions for your current challenges than gaining insight into them, solution-focused brief therapy may be for you. Solution-focused brief therapy (SFBT) is a short-term, goal-oriented therapy approach that works with your strengths to help you create the future you desire.
Why brief interventions and therapy?
Chapter 1—Introduction to Brief Interventions and Therapies The use of brief intervention and brief therapy techniques has become an increasingly important part of the continuum of care in the treatment of substance abuse problems.
What is solution-based brief therapy?
The solution-based brief therapy originally emanated from the field of family therapy. Family therapy has its origin in the schools of interactional, relational, and systemic theory.

What is a brief treatment model?
Brief therapy is a systematic, focused process that relies on assessment, client engagement, and rapid implementation of change strategies. Brief therapy providers can effect important changes in client behavior within a relatively short period.
What is brief therapy used for?
Solution focused brief therapy (SFBT) is a future-oriented, goal-directed approach to solving human problems of living. The focus is on the client's health rather than the problem, on strengths rather than weaknesses or deficits, and on skills, resources and coping abilities that would help in reaching future goals.
What is brief treatment in social work?
Building on a strengths perspective and using a time-limited approach, solution-focused brief therapy is a treatment model in social work practice that holds a person accountable for solutions rather than responsible for problems.
What is brief therapy in psychology?
Brief therapy is a type of counseling that is time limited and present oriented. Brief therapy focuses on the client's presenting symptoms and current life circumstances, and it emphasizes the strengths and resources of the client. The therapist in brief therapy is active and directive.
Who benefits from brief therapy?
SFBT may be helpful for children and teens with depression, anxiety and self-esteem issues. Some research shows SFBT has also helped kids improve their classroom behavior. “Solution-focused brief therapy actively works toward solutions. It helps patients identify what they do well.”
When would brief therapy intervention be appropriate?
Brief therapies can be useful for special populations if the therapist understands that some client issues may be developmental or physiological in nature (see TIP 26, Substance Abuse Among Older Adults, and TIP 32, Treatment of Adolescents With Substance Use Disorders [CSAT, 1998b, 1999b]).
What is an example of a brief intervention?
by getting people to think differently about their alcohol use so that they begin to think about or make changes in their alcohol consumption. by providing those who choose to drink with skills that allow them to consume alcoholic beverages in a safer way.
What are the five basic steps for providing a brief intervention?
Ask Questions as Much as You Can!Initiate the Conversation.Review Possible Impacts of Substance Abuse.Give Results of Standardized Measures.Summarize and Review Options.If Client is Willing to Set up a Plan to Drink Differently.
What is a brief intervention NHS?
NICE defines a very brief intervention in the following way: A very brief intervention can take from 30 seconds to a couple of minutes. It is mainly about giving people information, or directing them where to go for further help.
How many sessions is short term therapy?
Short-Term Therapy Options Short-term therapy normally lasts up to 10-20 sessions, or three-to-five months. Short-term treatments initially gained recognition in the 1950s, following the rise of behavioral and family therapies, which offered a more direct approach to mental health disorders than psychodynamics.
What is brief group therapy?
Brief Group Therapy is a group that is short lived and has a very specific timeline. Brief Group Therapy lasts only 8-12 weeks and can technically be supported through other groups yet it is technically in a category of itself.
Who created Brief Therapy?
Steve de ShazerSolution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT), also called Solution-Focused Therapy (SFT) was developed by Steve de Shazer (1940-2005), and Insoo Kim Berg (1934-2007) in collaboration with their colleagues at the Milwaukee Brief Family Therapy Center beginning in the late 1970s.
What is brief intervention?
Brief intervention is a popular and common alcohol reduction intervention that aims to moderate alcohol consumption and reduce harmful drinking practices such as binge drinking. Research has shown that brief interventions are highly effective across all spectrum’s of alcohol dependency.
How effective is brief intervention therapy?
Brief intervention therapy is particularly effective for people who engage in binge drinking. Binge drinking can be defined as excessive consumption of alcohol in a short period of time with the aim to get drunk. Binge drinking is associated with a profound social harm, economic costs as well as increased disease burden. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 75 per cent of alcohol consumed in the United States is in the form of binge drinking. This type of alcohol consumption is particularly common with young adults, especially young men, but increasingly young women.
Why is brief intervention therapy so successful?
The use of short sessions of counseling and education that support an individual in their own time and own community is part of the reason that brief intervention therapy is so successful. It is low cost and has minimal disruption to a person’s home and work life, thus reducing some of the potential shame that some patients feel when getting treatment. It also aims to provide those seeking help with immediate results, helping them to realize small steps can make a difference.
What is brief therapy?
The term brief therapy subsumes a variety of treatment approaches derived from different models of change and spanning a range of treatment durations. Brief therapies share a number of procedural elements, including criteria for inclusion and exclusion, the maintenance of a sharp treatment focus, a high degree of therapist activity and client involvement, and concerted efforts to elicit and rework client patterns within and between sessions. Brief therapies range from very short-term strategic and solution-focused modalities to cognitive-behavioral and cognitive-restructuring models and more extended short-term dynamic approaches. All appear to be effective in helping people deal with situational problems and less severe anxiety and stress concerns but may be limited in sustaining change among clients with chronic and severe disorders.
Who introduced the brief therapy?
During the 1980s, Steve de Shazer [47–50] introduced a kind of therapeutic interaction named solution-based brief therapy. This was an unusual therapy that became famous for its originality and simplicity, at least on the surface.
What is the best treatment for depression?
Psychotherapy. The best-studied modalities of psychotherapy for depression include cognitive therapy, behavior therapy, and interpersonal therapy. In these short-term therapies, the therapist is active and directive. Goals are recognizable, and treatment has an end point.
What are the factors that determine a psychopharmacologic treatment strategy?
Formulation of a psychopharmacologic treatment strategy is based on careful and accurate diagnostic interview assessing multiple factors, including unipolar versus bipolar disease, depression subtype and symptom severity, and both psychiatric and medical comorbidity. Developmental issues, family history of illness and drug response, psychosocial, and stage-of-life factors should be considered when choosing medications. Men and women may need different approaches throughout the lifespan. Short- and long-term tolerability, interactions, ease-of-use, and cost of medications should be considered. Longitudinal course including chronicity, prior acute-phase treatment responses, and treatment refractoriness may present a challenge, as can patient preference for avoiding certain side effects.
Where did family therapy originate?
Family therapy has its origin in the schools of interactional, relational, and systemic theory. Since the 1950s, family therapy began to find its roots in the current research about human communication [43–46], and from that point several kinds of schools have developed.
Who are the three therapists who developed strategic therapy?
Strategic therapy: Therapists operating from a systems perspective, including Paul Watzlawick, John Weakland, and Richard Fisch, extended Erickson's pioneering work, creating short-term approaches to therapy that could be used for families and individuals.
Who are the authors of Erickson therapy?
Ericksonian therapy: A number of authors, including Jay Haley, Richard Bandler, John Grinder, and Stephen Lankton, have attempted to identify the elements of practice that distinguish the work of Milton Erickson.
What is brief therapy?
Brief therapy is a type of counseling that is time limited and present oriented. Brief therapy focuses on the client’s presenting symptoms and current life circumstances, and it emphasizes the strengths and resources of the client. The therapist in brief therapy is active and directive. Termination of counseling is a major focus from the initial session.
What is cognitive behavioral therapy?
Cognitive-behavioral brief therapy focuses on schemas. Schemas are templates that individuals use in order to make decisions, guide responses, or explain situations. Schemas develop from life experiences and become a standard of normal behavior. Thus, whenever a critical event occurs, the individual uses a schema to decide how to react. Schemas may not be based on accurate information, so relying on some schemas may result in cognitive distortions. For example, if a child were punished whenever interrupting an adult, that child may develop beliefs that make him or her hesitant to interrupt, even as an adult.
How does Gestalt Therapy work?
Gestalt brief therapy uses Duey Freeman’s therapeutic circle as a guide for brief therapy . There are six stages in Gestalt brief therapy. First, therapy must begin with a present or here-and-now focus. Gestalt brief therapy helps the client to increase awareness of immediate feelings, experiences, and situations. Second, an issue is identified. The therapist does not direct the client to identify a particular issue. Instead, the therapist simply helps the client increase awareness of the here and now, and trusts the client to talk about an issue that is important.
How to restructure affect phobia?
First, the client should acknowledge and understand the defensive pattern. Second, the client should be motivated to change the defensive pattern. Third, in order to desensitize the affect phobia, the client must experience and express appropriate feelings. Fourth, the therapist must listen to the client and help identify healthy feelings that can help the client to behave more effectively and experience relief from his or her symptoms .
What is the difference between family therapy and behavior therapy?
Brief therapy began to gain attention in the 1950s, following the increase in popularity of behavior therapy and family therapy. Behavior therapy emphasizes the correction of immediate problem behaviors and employs numerous behavioral techniques to facilitate change in the individual. Family therapy emphasizes the individual in the context of the family. In both therapies, the therapist is direct and active. These two therapies differ from earlier dominant therapies rooted in psychoanalytic thought that focus on the individual’s insight and past, and in which the therapist is nondirective and passive. Thus behavior therapy and family therapy set the stage for the acceptance of active short-term therapeutic approaches.
How to do single session therapy?
Diverse techniques are employed in single-session therapy. For example, the therapist may contact the client by phone before meeting to obtain detailed information about the presenting problem and to ask the client to complete specific tasks before the session. A second popular technique is to focus on ambiguity during the session. Focusing on ambiguity allows the therapist to introduce new ways of looking at the same problem. Clients often practice possible solutions during the session. Rehearsing ideal outcomes or practicing new skills can help a client feel more able to transfer skills from the therapy session to everyday life. After the session is over, the therapist informs the client that he or she can return for another session if necessary.
Is brief therapy effective?
Importantly, there are some instances in which longer-term therapy will be more beneficial (e.g., treatment of severe traumas, eating disorders, personality disorders, schizophrenia). In general, though, brief therapy is cost effective and efficacious.
What is the goal of SFBT?
Goal-setting is at the foundation of SFBT; one of the first steps is to identify and clarify your goals. The therapist will begin by questioning what you hope to get out of working with the therapist and how, specifically, your life would change when steps were taken to resolve problems.
What is SFBT used for?
It is used to treat people of all ages and a variety of issues, including child behavioral problems, family dysfunction, domestic or child abuse, addiction, and relationship problems.
Who developed SFBT?
SFBT was developed by Milwaukee psychotherapists Steve De Shazer and Insoo Kim Berg in the late 1970s, early 1980s out of an interest in paying more attention to what people want and what works best for the individual, in contrast to more traditional psychotherapies that presume to know what works for different types of problems.
What is the role of a therapist in a person's life?
The therapist uses interventions such as specific questioning techniques, 0-10 scales, empathy and compliments that help a person to recognize one’s own virtues, like courage and strength, that have recently gotten the person through hard times and are likely to work well in the future.
What is solution focused brief therapy?
Training in solution-focused brief therapy helps applicants learn core principles, master relevant therapeutic skills, and demonstrate competency in the practice of SFBT. At the end of training, each applicant must successful pass an IASTI-approved exam to earn certification.
What is SFBT therapy?
Solution-focused brief therapy (SFBT) places focus on a person's present and future circumstances and goals rather than past experiences. In this goal-oriented therapy, the symptoms or issues bringing a person to therapy are typically not targeted. Instead, a qualified therapist encourages those in treatment to develop a vision ...
Why is SFBT so effective?
Because this modality focuses on solutions to issues, rather than the reasons behind them, it may be more effective at treating some concerns than others. Research has shown SFBT may be a helpful intervention for youth who are experiencing behavioral concerns or academic/school-related concerns.
Where are solution focused therapists trained?
Currently, therapists in the United States, Canada, South America, Asia, and Europe are trained in the approach. The principles of solution-focused therapy have been applied to a wide variety of environments including schools, places of employment, and other settings where people are eager to reach personal goals and improve interpersonal ...
What is the level of a solution focused practitioner?
Level 1: Solution-focused practitioner. Level 2: Advanced solution-focused practitioner. Level 3: Master solution-focused practitioner. To be eligible for consideration, all applicants must be able to practice solution-focused therapy in a professional setting.

Use of Brief Intervention Treatment
Brief Intervention Therapy Process
- Brief intervention treatment is characterized by a combination of short counseling sessions (5 to 60 minutes) and education. The program can be implemented at any time of treatment, but it is recommended to be used during early stages. They can be performed by health workers, medical professionals, group counselors and other appropriate individuals...
Effectiveness of Brief Interventions
- The use of short sessions of counseling and education that support an individual in their own time and own community is part of the reason that brief intervention therapy is so successful. It is low cost and has minimal disruption to a person’s home and work life, thus reducing some of the potential shame that some patients feel when getting treatment. It also aims to provide those se…
Brief Intervention Can Help Reduce Binge Drinking
- Brief intervention therapy is particularly effective for people who engage in binge drinking. Binge drinking can be defined as excessive consumption of alcohol in a short period of time with the aim to get drunk. Binge drinking is associated with a profound social harm, economic costs as well as increased disease burden. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 7…
Brief Intervention as Treatment During Pregnancy
- It has been reported that around 20 per cent of women drink some alcohol during pregnancy. However, severe alcohol dependency during pregnancy is uncommon. Even mild to moderate alcohol consumption during pregnancy can have negative health implications for both the pregnant woman and child. Alcohol consumption during key development stages can have long …
Screening and Brief Intervention
- Screening is considered an effective method of diagnosing people who require brief intervention. World wide, there are numerous guidelines for health professionals to use when screening; however, it has been reported that only 13 per cent of medical professionals use screening to discuss alcohol use with their patients. Screening provides an opportunity to educate about the r…
Success with Brief Interventions
- Brief interventions are proven procedures that work best when used with moderate risk drinking behaviors. Education for young adults and low level drinkers is imperative for reducing the potential risks that high levels and excessive drinking can have. It is suggested that intervention at this stage can reduce the potential for excessive drinking behaviors into the future. Although ab…