Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT)

Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) is a goal-oriented, strengths-based approach that focuses on what’s working—and how to build more of it. Rather than spending extensive time analyzing problems or the past, SFBT centers on your hopes, your resources, and the changes you want to see in your life.

This approach is practical, collaborative, and future-focused.

How Solution-Focused Therapy Works

SFBT starts from the belief that you already have skills, strengths, and experiences that can support change—even if they feel hard to access right now. In therapy, we work together to:

  • Clarify your goals and what “better” would actually look like

  • Identify past successes, exceptions, and moments when the problem feels smaller

  • Build on your existing strengths and coping skills

  • Create realistic, manageable next steps

  • Track progress in ways that feel meaningful to you

The focus is on forward movement, not on diagnosing or fixing you.

Who Solution-Focused Therapy Can Help

SFBT can be especially helpful if you:

  • Want therapy that feels structured and goal-driven

  • Feel stuck and want help identifying next steps

  • Are navigating a life transition or decision

  • Want practical tools without deep focus on past trauma

  • Prefer a shorter-term or skills-focused approach

  • Have ADHD or executive-function challenges and benefit from clarity and structure

SFBT can be used on its own or alongside other therapeutic approaches.

What to Expect in Sessions

Solution-Focused sessions are conversational, collaborative, and intentional. Therapy may include:

  • Clear goal-setting conversations

  • Scaling questions to track progress over time

  • Exploring what’s already working, even in small ways

  • Identifying barriers and flexible strategies to move around them

  • Celebrating progress no matter how incremental

You are always the expert on your own life. The therapist’s role is to help you notice patterns, strengths, and possibilities that may be hard to see on your own.

A Strengths-Based, Affirming Approach

At Small Works Counseling, Solution-Focused Therapy is offered in a way that honors your identity, lived experience, and autonomy. We recognize that many people have been over-pathologized or misunderstood in past systems of care. This approach keeps therapy grounded in respect, collaboration, and what matters most to you.

Is Solution-Focused Therapy right for you?
If you’re looking for therapy that emphasizes progress, clarity, and actionable change, Solution-Focused Brief Therapy may be a strong fit.