Solution focused therapy

When you think of therapy with a psychologist, you may think of pouring out your heart, digging deep into your past, and trying to understand your behavior and emotions. And you think that therapy is a process that can take at least several months or even years.

While such therapy certainly has a place and can be of great value to many people, sometimes you need a more hands-on approach to deal with difficulties or setbacks.

Search for concrete solutions

Solution focused therapy encourages you to think more about the future than about the past. During treatment, the focus is less on the causes of the problem, the conflicts or the disorder, and more on the concrete solution.

The idea behind this is that in order to solve the problem it is not always necessary to have full insight into the origin of the problem.

Solution focused therapy is a targeted approach that helps you solve a current problem or achieve a specific goal in the near future. Your problems are addressed and what needs to change in your life to achieve your goals.

How does solution focused therapy work?

During solution focused therapy, the focus is on your current and future situation. You are encouraged to express your wishes and goals for the future and together we examine which strengths and skills you already have to solve your problems and to achieve your goals.

During therapy you can work with so-called ‘miracle questions’. You are asked to imagine a future where the problem no longer exists. This question allows you to explain how your life would be different if the problem didn’t exist. A ‘miracle question’ is an invitation to think about the problem in a different way than you are used to, which increases your ability to solve problems.

Usually, ‘scaling questions’ are also used. Using a scale of 1 to 10, you are asked to indicate your current feeling or state. Using scaling questions can help measure change and split goals into small, achievable steps you can take immediately to change your situation.

Examples of scaling questions are:

• On a scale of 0 to 10, the number 10 represents the situation you want to achieve, where are you now on this scale?
• How did you manage to arrive at this number? What helped you?
• What does a higher number on the scale look like? So what’s different for you?
• What do you need to do or change to get a higher number on the scale?

During the sessions, we examine when the problem was not or less present in the past. This can help you find a suitable solution for you. We also discuss how you have reacted to difficulties or setbacks in the past. This allows you to identify your strengths and skills and recognize what works for you. And if something isn’t working for you, you are encouraged to look for new and different problem-solving approaches.

Because the focus is more on the solution than on the problem itself, the therapy is result-oriented and generally short-term.

Solution focused therapy can be used alone, but for a complex disorder or problem, solution focused therapy is more likely to be used in combination with other forms of therapy such as cognitive behavioral therapy.

Contact Psychologen Amsterdam

Do you need help or do you just have a question about solution focused therapy? Then call for an appointment or send a message to Psychologen Amsterdam.