The Solution Focused Brief Therapy Diamond: A New Approach to SFBT That Will Empower Both Practitioner and Client to Achieve the Best Outcomes

A guide for clinicians (both beginner or seasoned professional) to understand the philosophy and practical steps of Solution Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) to maximize their effectiveness with any client, written by two respected and innovative experts in the field.

Solution focused brief therapy (SFBT) is a therapeutic approach that focuses on the client’s hoped-for future instead of their ongoing problems. Elliott E. Connie and Adam S. Froerer are the founders of The Solution Focused Universe and are two of the most respected and innovative experts in their field. Together, they have developed the Diamond model—a framework of SFBT skills and tools designed to guide a clinician through each session of therapy—which is one of the biggest innovations in the field of solution focused brief therapy.

This is a practical guide for any clinician (beginner or seasoned professional) to understand the philosophy and practical steps of conducting an SFBT session. Among the topics discussed:

• How to presuppose the best in your client
• How to trust your client’s capability
• The stance clinicians should adopt to be effective solution focused practitioners
• The art of asking meaningful questions
• The importance of autonomy

This book also includes tools to help practitioners implement this approach, including a complete SFBT session with editorial comments that illustrate the thinking that goes into constructing a session, as well as 101 solution focused questions that practitioners can use.

Connie and Froerer see their Diamond model as life-changing for all parties involved. They write, “This work is transformative not only for clients but also for you. When you view your clients as capable and strong, it changes you—and how you do your job. Your perceptions directly impact your actions.”

Elliott Connie, MA, LPC, is a psychotherapist who practices in Keller, Texas. He has worked with thousands of individuals, couples, and families applying the solution-focused approach to help them move their lives from their current problems toward their desired futures. He is the founder and director of The Solution Focused Universe, an online learning community that also conducts trainings to help professionals master the Solution Focused Approach in their work. He is recognized around the world speaking at national and international conferences and events throughout the United States, and in Australia, New Zealand, Germany, South Africa, Russia, Switzerland, England, Poland, Sweden, Denmark, Scotland, Holland, Canada, and Asia training practitioners to apply solution focused questions and techniques in their work.

Adam Froerer is the director of Research and Training for The Solution Focused Universe. He conducts process and outcome research about Solution Focused Brief Therapy and works to make SFBT research more accessible to clinicians and clients. Adam is the author of several peer-reviewed journal articles and is the first editor of the book, Solution Focused Brief Therapy With Clients Managing Trauma. Adam is one of the foremost trainers of SFBT and trains practitioners from around the world. Along with Elliott Connie, Adam is the co-creator of The Diamond Approach to SFBT.