Effective Counseling Interventions with Youth and Families: A Review of Solution Focused Brief Therapy. School Counseling Research Brief 9.2

Responsive services--in the form of individual, group, and family interventions--are a core component of the work of many school counselors. Solution focused brief therapy (SFBT), also called solution focused counseling (SFC), is increasingly used in schools due to its flexibility, brevity, and efficacy. Having a theoretically sound, effective, and efficient clinical intervention model is critical to successful school counseling programs, which makes identifying these models imperative. This study summarizes the current research on SFBT with children and families. Key components of the SFBT and SFC models include goal-setting; finding what is working or where there are exceptions to a problem; scaling; identifying client and family resources; eliciting client solutions; and soliciting client commitment to agreed-upon goals. This model is particularly well-suited to work in schools due to the high caseloads of most school counselors, and the related need to respond to a variety of student situations efficiently and promptly. SFBT's positive focus and strength-based approach align with school counseling program models and educational outcomes.