Doing What Works in Brief Therapy

Explains how the strategic emphasis on clarification of the problem and interruption of what does not work can complement and enhance the solution-focused emphasis on amplification of what does work. This book reviews the theory and presents specific treatment techniques. It includes case examples which illustrate how the model has been used.

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The first of its kind, "Doing What Works in Brief Therapy" is a guidebook to strategic solution focused therapy, a model which combines the principles and techniques of the Mental Research Institute's brief strategic therapy and the Brief Family Therapy Center's solution focused therapy. The book explains how the strategic emphasis on clarification of the problem and interruption of what does not work can complement and enhance the solution-focused emphasis on amplification of what does work. The text reviews the theory and presents specific treatment techniques. Case examples illustrate how the model has been used in brief, intermittent, and single-session therapy in a managed care setting. Brief psychotherapy doesn't have to result in chronic frustration for the therapist or superficial, second-rate care for the client. This book presents an approach that is upbeat, practical, and eminently workable in managed care. The reader learns to focus on critical issues with exquisite precision and to construct creative, individualized interventions that amplify what works and interrupt what does not. It integrates strategic therapy and solution focused therapy.
It includes guidelines for intervention and when to do what. It provides applications for couples: indications for separate or joint sessions. It considers both therapy and medication as successful and unsuccessful solutions. It features excerpts and clinically rich examples.