Solution-focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) has generated outcome research worldwide and in a variety of intervention contexts. A systematic literature search yielded 251 published outcome studies on SFBT. SFBT was found superior to control groups or at post-test in almost nine out of every ten studies. Taking only 91 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) into account, SFBT was still found superior in seven out of every ten. Results varied slightly according to intervention type and format, manualization, and components of SFBT. They also varied more according to type of comparator and use of diagnostic criteria. These results widen the evidence base for SFBT.

The differential impact of solution‐focused brief therapy questions was tested. A total of 246 subjects described a personal problem they wanted to solve and were randomly assigned to one of four interventions that involved answering problem‐focused versus solution‐focused questions: a problem‐focused condition, a miracle condition, a scaling condition or an exception condition. Before and after answering the questions, participants completed measures of positive and negative affect, self‐efficacy, goal attainment, action steps and solution‐focused thinking. The miracle and exception conditions were more effective than the problem‐focused condition in reducing negative affect. The scaling condition generated more action steps than the miracle question or the exception question. These findings support solution‐focused ideas on the different effects of solution‐focused questions, but also suggest that solution‐focused and problem‐focused questions might be more similar than different in their immediate impact on clients.Practitioner points: Solution‐focused and problem‐focused questions are more similar than different in their immediate impact on clients. Among solution‐focused questions, the miracle question and the exception question are more effective in reducing negative affect, and scaling questions in generating specific action steps. Integrative therapists could use solution‐focused questions not only with clients who seem more optimistic but also with less solution‐minded ones. ​

In this study, we present encouraging preliminary results on the application of solution-focused brief therapy (SFBT) to a special population. In a multiple case design, solution-focused therapy was used to treat three profoundly prelocutive deaf persons suffering from depression. The level of depression was assessed using a carefully validated adaptation of the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II); the treatment was manualized, and treatment integrity was assessed throughout all the therapy sessions. In all three cases, the BDI scores improved significantly; clients moved out of the clinical range. Therapy was brief, ranging from four to eight sessions over a maximum of 4.5 months. Limitations of the study and future implications are also discussed.

This paper presents the first results of a large-scale research project on the child protection services in Tenerife, Spain. In Study 1, the professional beliefs and practices of 152 child protection workers, as measured by a Professional Beliefs and Practices Questionnaire, were correlated with their scores on the Maslach Burnout Inventory. Higher scores on a variety of deficit-based beliefs and practices were associated with higher burnout scores, while strengths-based beliefs and practices correlated negatively with burnout. In Study 2, the workers were assigned either to a control group or to an experimental group that received 30 hours of training in solution-focused brief therapy (SFBT) plus 30 hours of supervision. Workers in the experimental group changed their professional practices and beliefs in a more strengths-based direction from pre-test to six-month follow-up, with large effect sizes for the SFBT training (from d = 1.42 to d = 2.07). The SFBT training also had a small but significant effect on burnout at follow-up (d = 0.48). A regression model was able to account for 83.8% of the variance in burnout scores at six-month follow-up. Neither time working in child protection nor severity of cases predicted burnout at follow-up. Burnout at follow-up was predicted by burnout at pre-test and by changes in the professional beliefs and practices of workers. Workers who changed in the direction of more strengths-based beliefs showed lower burnout scores at follow-up, whereas those who changed to more deficit-based beliefs increased their burnout. Workers who changed their professional practices in the direction of focusing more on the difficulties of service users showed increased burnout. Changing practice in the direction of becoming more collaborative, “leading families from one step behind”, and of working in a more trans-disciplinary way with team members and other colleagues predicted lower burnout.