Solution-Focused Assumptions

[Coert Visser]

In many books, if not all, onthe solution-focused approach a list of basic assumptions, underlying the approach can be found. These lists of assumptions overlap of course but also vary to some extent and have some unique features each time. Here are a few lists I found in some books on the solution-focused approach. I hope you'll like them and I am curious what you think about these descriptions.

Becoming Solution-Focused in Brief Therapy - John Walter & Jane Peller (1992)

1. Focusing on the positive, on the solution, and on the future facilitates change in the desired direction. Therefore, focus on solution-oriented talk rather tha on problem oriented talk. 2. Exceptions to every problem can be created by therapist and clients, which canbe used to build solutions. 3. Change is occuring all the time. 4. Small changing leads to larger changing. 5. Clients are always cooperating. They are showing us how they think change takes place. As we understand their thinking and act accordingly, cooperation is inevitable. 6. People have all they need to solve their problems. 7. Meaning and experience are interactionally constructed. 8. Actions and descriptions are circular. 9. The meaning of the message is the response you receive. 10. Therapy is a goal or solution-focused endeavor, with the client as expert. 11. Any change in how clients describe a goal (solution) and/or what they do affects future interactions with all others involved. 12. The members in a treatment group are those who share a goal and state their desire to do something about making it happen.

Beyond Technique - Eve Lipchik (2002)

1. Every client is unique. 2. Clients have the inherent strength and resources to help themselves. 3. Nothing is all negative. 4. There is no such thing as resistance. 5. You can not change clients; they can only change themselves. 6. SFT goes slowly. 7. There is no cause and effect. 8. Solutions do not necessarily have anything to do with the problem. 9. Emotions are part of every problem and every solution. 10. Change is constant and inevitable; a small change can lead to bigger changes. 11. One can't change the past so one should concentrate on the future.

The Solutions Focus - Jackson and McKergow (2002)

1. Change is happening all the time. our job is to identify and amplify useful change. 2. There is no one "right" way of looking at things: different views may fit the facts just as well. 3. Detailed understanding of the "problem" is usually of little help in arriving at the solution. 4. No "problem" happens all the time. The direct route lies in identifying what is going on when it does not happen. 5. Clues to the solution are right there in front of you: you just need to recognize them. 6. Small changes in the right direction can be amplified to great effect. 7. It is important to stay solution-focused, not solution-forced.

More than miracles - de Shazer, Dolan et al (2007)

1. If it isn't broken, don't fix it. 2. If it works, do more of it. 3. If it's not working, do something different. 4. Small steps can lead to big changes. 5. The solutions is not necessarily directly related to the problem. 6. The language for solution-development is different from that needed to describe a problem. 7. No problem happens all the time; there are always exceptions that can be utilized. 8. The future is both created and negotiable.

Handbook of Solution-focused brief Therapy - Thorana Nelson and Frank Thomas (2007)

1. Change is constant and inevitable; just as one cannot not communicate, one cannot not change. 2. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Once you know what works, do more of it! If it doesn't work, then don't do it again-do something different! 3. Clients come to us with resources and strengths, both personal and contextual. Our job is to create a milieu in which these become important and are identified. 4. There is not necessarily a logical relationship between the problem and the solution. The therapist's role is not to diagnose and repair but to identify and amplify potential solutions. 5. A focus on the possible and changeable ismore helpful than a focus on the overwhelming and intractable. 6. A small change can lead to bigger change. 7. Therapy is client-centered-the client is the expert on his or her experience.

Paths to Solutions-The Power of the Solution-Focused Approach - Coert Visser and Gwenda Schlundt Bodien (2008)

1. Searching for causes of problems is not necessary. 2. The change begins with defining the desired situation. 3. Each case is unique. 4. Confronting is not necessary. 5. The client wants to cooperate. 6. The client already has the solutions. 7. There are always exceptions to the problem. 8. There is always already a beginning of the desired situation. 9. Small steps forward will usually be enough.

[Hannes Couvreur]

Assumptions about the current situation

1. The situation is neither good, nor bad.
2. The situation is always wise.

[Coert Visser]

Dear Hani, thank you for the list!

[Hani Bahwireth]

Hi Coert, that is really useful to have a broad look at SF assumptions. If you allow me, I'd like to add some assumptions taken from Solution-focused approached by Steve Myres

Assumptions about problem
1- the problem is the problem, the service user is not the problem.
2- problems don't necessarily indicate a personal deficit.
3- problems happen in interactions between people rather than inside them.
4- problems are always present, exceptions occur.
5- complicated problems do not always require a complicated solution.

Assumptions about the past
1- events just happen; exploring the past leads to blame whereas the goal is to develop responsibility for the future.
2- exploring a problem-free future avoids having to dwell on or understand the past.
3- a diagnosis doesn't have to determine the future.

Assumptions about the change
1- change always happens; nothing stays the same.
2- what my appear to be small changes can hugely significant.
3- change can be constructed through talk.

Assumptions about talking
1- Hearing what the service user has to say is important.
2- Take a not-knowing stance that reduces premature and imposed worker judgment.
3- Stay on the surface of conversations rather than looking beneath; any search for meaning is likely to be the worker's interpretation.
4- People experience and make sense of their world in different ways; their reality may not be yours.

Assumptions about solutions
1- Identify what is going right rather than what is going wrong.
2- Service users have the solutions to the problems; assist them in finding these achievable and successful.
3- Imposing what works for others doesn't always work for the individual; seek what works for them.
4- Increasing service user choices will enable behaviour change.
5- Goals need to be meaningful for the service user in order to be successful, but they need to be legal and moral

Please accept my regards
hani

[Coert Visser]

thanks, Enrico

[Enrico Varella]

What a useful way to compare and contrast! Similarities alongside uniqueness. Thank you for your sharing, Coert.

[Coert Visser]

you are welcome

[Hans-Peter Korn]

THANKS A LOT!!

[Coert Visser]

Sure, here they are:

Walter, J.L. & Peller, J.E. (1992). Becoming Solution-focused in brief therapy. Brunner/Mazel.

Lipchik, E. (2002). Beyond Technique In Solution-Focused Therapy. Working With Emotions And The Therapeutic Relationship. Guilford Publications

Jackson, P. & McKergow, M. (2002). The solutions focus, the SIMPLE way to positive change. Nicholas Brealy Publishing.

de Shazer, S., Dolan, Y., Korman, H., Trepper, T., McCollum, E.E. & Berg, I.K. (2005). More than Miracles. Haworth Press.

Nelson, T. & Thomas, F. Handbook of solution-focused brief therapy. Clinical Applications (Eds.). New York: The Haworth Press.

Visser, C.F. & Schlundt Bodien, G. (2008). Paden naar oplossingen. De kracht van oplossingsgericht werken. JustInTimeBooks.

[Hans-Peter Korn]

Thank you, Coert - that's a really GREAT stuff!!!
One small request:
Can you please reference the sources of this assumptions in a more specific way?
Cheers,
Hans-Peter