Working with Solution Focused Brief Therapy in Healthcare Settings

Kidge Burns is a Speech and Language Therapist who worked in an NHS hospital setting for 23 years. Since 1997, she has used SFBT to help clients with acute and chronic physical ill health, writing chapters and articles on her work and publishing Focus on Solutions: A Health Professional’s Guide (2nd ed., 2016). She completed the BRIEF Diploma in 2006 and was part of the working party involved in setting up the accreditation scheme for the UK Association for Solution Focused Practice (UKASFP). Kidge has trained health professionals in SFBT throughout the UK and provides therapy and supervision to individuals as a Solution Focused Practitioner. Sarah Northcott is a Senior Lecturer in speech and language therapy at City, University of London. After qualifying as a Speech and Language Therapist, she initially worked in community services, before completing a PhD. Her research interests lie in exploring ways to support the emotional and social wellbeing of people living with stroke and aphasia. In 2016, she received the Stroke Association Jack and Averil (Mansfield) Bradley Fellowship Award for Stroke Research, which enabled her to lead the Solution Focused brief therapy In post-stroke Aphasia (SOFIA) trial. Sarah has also completed a diploma in Solution Focused Brief Therapy at BRIEF, London.

What is solution focused brief therapy? Establishing the desired outcome Future-focused descriptions Getting descriptions of past and future progress Compliments, ownership and ending a session Follow up sessions Responding to distress, and the role of the AHP SFBT and adults with an acquired language disability Supervision and support Exercises Exercises for our clients Solution Focused Mindset Appendix A: Ten minute talk, record of supervision Appendix B: Crib sheet of standard SFBT questions List of Abbreviations Index References