Solution Focused Brief Therapy – Brisbane

Two Day Intensive Workshop

Solution Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) is a user-friendly and evidence-based approach, effective with a range of mental health and well-being issues including anxiety, depression and trauma. Its strength-base and future-focus make it ideal for situations requiring rapid client engagement and cooperation. By concentrating on a preferred future rather than a regretted past and by focusing on resources rather than deficits the solution focused approach has proved an effective model, especially useful where clients are in great difficulty and who urgently need to find a way forward.

SFBT purposefully shifts from “problem-driven” to “solution-focused” to dramatically change the outcome of treatment regardless of problem or diagnosis. Through “future-focused” questions, building on exceptions and reframing of problems, mental health professionals can steer clients away from the problem and towards change. Building on what works and emphasising client’s strengths/ resources and achievable solutions, strengthens client resilience and agency. Using the client’s own language, beliefs and preferences, illuminates how to define changeable problems, along with highly meaningful and specific goals. That when presented with ideas and interventions as “suggestions” and “experiments” instead of directives, further improves the likelihood of clients taking action.

Benefits for mental health services, professionals and consumers include:

• Future-focused – avoid getting stuck with clients, addressing the same problems & symptoms week after weeks
• Evidence-based – four decades of empirical studies show success rates average 60%.
• Collaborative & respectful – uses client language, beliefs & preferences to develop meaningful & specific goals, regardless of problem or diagnosis.
• Time Efficient – low number of sessions (4-5). Reduce caseloads & wait-lists.
• Build staff morale – staff feel better about their work, clients & colleagues. Reduce burn-out.
• Contemporary – aligns with recovery model, strengths-based, positive psychology & appreciative inquiry.
• Wide application – therapy, supervision, schools, leadership.
• Simple and practical – learn in 2-days. Clients say “it makes sense”.

This comprehensive introduction offers a thorough overview of SFBT with cases from mental health, trauma, substance abuse, child & adolescent difficulties. Learn when & how to use the core techniques and tools through detailed demonstrations, skills practice, discussions & videos of real therapy sessions. With an emphasis on what works, it has been presented over 700 times to mental health services across Australia & New Zealand, This ‘flag-ship’ workshop is the no.1 choice for Australia’s leading front-line mental health services and professionals.

Presented by: Michael Durrant, Australia’s leading international trainer of Solution Focused Brief Therapy.