Postmodern Approaches

                                       Steve de Shazer 1940-2005   Insoo Kim Berg 1935-2007

   

                                           Michael White 1949-2008        David Epston 1944-

Postmodern Approaches

• Founders- Insoo Kim Berg, Steve de Shazer, Michael White, and David Epston (Corey, 2012).
• Key concepts- Solution-Focused Brief Therapy- unique focus of SFBT, positive orientation, looking for what is working, and basic assumptions guiding practice, Narrative Therapy- focus of narrative therapy, the role of stories, and listening with an open mind (Corey, 2012).
• Solution-focused brief therapy- 1. unique focus of SFBT- this therapy is different than most other therapies because it avoids dealing with the past more than the present or future. The main idea of this approach is only focus on what is possible not the impossible (Corey, 2012). It is not important to know the cause and has no benefit in helping with finding the solution. 2. positive orientation- this approach deals with the concept that the assumption of people being positive and have the ability to come up with their own solutions to problems. 3. looking for what is working- finding what techniques are working is very important in SFBT. It is important for a therapist to figure out what is working with clients and helping them solve problems in a shorter amount of time. 4. basic assumptions guiding practice- some of the important assumptions to make about SFBT are that individual that come to therapy know how to behave, having advantages on positive outlook on the future, exceptions to every problem, clients usually only show one side of themselves in therapy, no problem is constant, clients want to change and are doing whatever it takes to change, and client should be trusted with their intentions to solve their own problems (Corey, 2012). Some therapist are trying to move away from the idea of therapy and make it feel more like a personal consultation (Corey, 2012). 
• Therapeutic goals- SFBT is about making changes and reaching goals (Corey, 2012). This approach believes that most people have what it takes to solve most of their own problems and reach personal goals with their own means. Solution- focused therapist defiantly start with small, realistic, and achievable goals that are easy for a client to do on their own and teaches them how to think more positive. Changing the view of the problem and making resources more strong and available to clients are important. 
• Techniques- there are eight techniques that can be helpful: pretherapy change, exception questions, the miracle question, scaling question, formula first session task, therapist feedback to clients, terminating, and application to group counseling (Corey, 2021). 1. pretherapy change- simply by calling a therapist can cause the thought of change to come to a clients mind even before the first session and sometimes clients will begin to start thinking of what and how they can change the problems. 2. exception questions- the exception question is the idea of when clients have a problem that was not always a problem in their life. It is important to ask the client direct questions about when the problem or before it existed. 3. the miracle question- this is the technique that a therapist often uses to ask a client that if a a miracle happened and the problem was gone over night and how that would make things different. 4. scaling questions- sometimes a therapist will use scaling questions when a clients emotions are not showing up as you would like as a therapist. 5. formula first session task- this is the idea that a therapist may give a client something to do or research between their first and second session. 6. therapist feedback to clients- during a therapy session a therapist will often take a few minute break to write some notes on a message they want to give as feedback to the client. 7. terminating- from the very first session a therapist goals is to always be working toward getting the client stable enough to make positive good decisions on their own and to deal with problems quicker and more effectively. 8. application to group counseling- solution-focused therapist believes that people can be more effective if they are in a atmosphere that they can communicate with others.
• Narrative therapy- 1. focus of narrative therapy- it is very important for a therapist to listen to clients and take notes of the times when clients had more healthy lifestyles. 2. the role of stories- clients and all people live their lives by stories and from stories and these stories can shape reality as in what we see, feel, and do (Corey, 2012). 3. listening with a open mind- it is always important to listen to clients problems and concerns with an open mind without having any judgement on the client.
• Therapeutic goals- goals in narrative therapy are to get clients to explain their experiences in a new positive language. 
• Techniques- an important technique with narrative therapy is greatly dependent on a therapist's attitude than on the actual technique (Corey, 2012). A narrative therapist is also encouraged to get clients to see their story or problem from a different more positive perspective. 

References 

Corey, G. (2012). Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy (9th edition). Belmont, CA

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