Working with Solution Focused Brief Therapy in Healthcare Settings: A Practical Guide

Solution focused brief therapy is an evidence-based approach that enables people to make meaningful change in their everyday lives. This book shares ideas on how speech and language therapists and others working in medical settings can integrate SFBT into their therapeutic interactions to support clients handling acute or chronic health conditions. It outlines core aspects of the approach in an accessible format, bridging the gap between theory and practice, and provides guidance on adapting SFBT for clients living with communication disabilities. There are suggestions for different clinical situations, with real-life case examples drawn from working with people living with Parkinson’s disease, stroke, motor neurone disease, cancer and chronic pain.

Combining practical advice with photocopiable resources, this book covers:

• Establishing person-centred, holistic goals for therapy
• Future focused descriptions
• Building on a person’s resources and successes
• Responding to distress
• Supervision and support

This accessible book can be read as an introductory text for those new to this approach and will also be invaluable to clinicians who have already received some training in SFBT. It is likely to become a trusted resource, supporting allied health professionals and others to ensure their therapy is grounded in client priorities.

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.