The Solution Focused Method

Solution Focused work is about looking forward. A lot of traditional forms of therapy are focused on going over your past, and finding the reason or cause for the way you are feeling now.

Now there is a place for this type of therapy, and a lot of people have this perception of therapy, of talking and analysing the past.

With solution focused therapy, our focus is on solutions going forward. This doesn’t mean we ignore the problem. I appreciate you have a past, and there have been things going on in your life to get you to the point that you’re at now. But it means we do focus on the future and on getting you to where you want to be, and feeling the way you want to feel.

During a therapy session, these are the kind of questions I ask you.

When we first meet, we’ll carry out an initial consultation, and I will of course ask about your issues, so I can understand what are we dealing with ie are we dealing with some depression, some anxiety, a phobia, confidence issue etc. I do need the information but it’s not something that needs dwelling upon, it’s not something that we need to go over & over again.

So once I’ve gathered the basic information, what I’ll then do is start asking questions. And these are what we call solution focused questions. I’ll ask things like If I had a magic wond and you didn’t have these issues in your life, what would your life be like, what would you be doing, how would that effect your health, how would that make a difference to your family, friends, career, social life etc.

We focus on what you want, not on what you don’t want. The brain works so much better in this way, focusing on what it wants, rather than what it doesn’t want. For example If I say to you don’t think about a purple unicorn, whatever you do, do not think about a purple unicorn. Tell me what are you now thinking about? The brain can’t hear the ‘don’t bit. So if you’re saying to yourself I don’t want to feel anxious, I don’t want to feel depressed, you’re thinking about anxiety & depression, and by thinking about it and focusing on it, you will stay feeling that way. So focus on how you want to feel. And this is why I ask, so if you weren’t feeling anxious & depressed, what would you be feeling instead. And you might say, well I would be feeling calm, relaxed, confident, motivated. And these are much more exciting emotions to be talking about, so direct your brain in this direction eg I want to feel great, I want to feel happy, I want to feel motivated at work etc.

Then it’s important to get into the detail, what do you mean by happy, what would you be doing if you were feeling happier. If you were feeling a little bit better tomorrow, what would you be doing. It’s such an easier & more enjoyable way to start retraining your brain.

Sessions in Solution Focused therapy are a lot more enjoyable. My aim is to make my clients feel better, make them leave the session feeling better, feeling more focused on the future, more focused on what they want now.

So start asking yourself those questions, what is it that you want. If I had a magic wond and you didn’t have these issues in your life, what would your life be like, what would you be doing, how would that effect your health, how would that make a difference to your family, friends, career, social life etc. If you were feeling a little bit better tomorrow, what would you be doing?

Now one last important note, Imagination is really powerful, so use it. The brain doesn’t know difference between imagination or reality, so create a vivid, positive, happy picture in your mind. Look forward, what would you be doing tomorrow, if you felt a little bit better, let that imagine work overtime, thinking up lots of positive, happy images. This also helps train the brain to look and focus on what you want, on doing things that will make you feel better, to focus on the positive things in life.

This is also why it’s not very helpful or effective to keep going over the problems of the past. Your mind doesn’t know the difference between imagination or reality, so if you’re revisiting a past scenario over and over again, it’s as if you’re experiencing it now, and if you do that 50, maybe even 100 times, you’re re-living it 50 / 100 times.

Solution Focused therapy is about focusing on the future. It doesn’t dwell and analyse the problem, or stay focused on the past.