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BRIEF Therapy

BRIEF
«Less intervention, more room for change.»
Definition

BRIEF is a minimalist evolution of solution-focused brief therapy (SFBT). Its central shift is from finding solutions through actions to constructing new descriptions of life. The key word is not "do" but "notice."

The therapist does not try to explain why the problem exists. The work is to help the client describe a preferred future in enough detail that signs of that future can begin to be noticed in the present.

Founders and history

Evan George, Harvey Ratner and Chris Iveson founded the BRIEF centre in London in 1989. All three had trained in classical SFBT with Steve de Shazer and Insoo Kim Berg in Milwaukee.

By the 2000s, BRIEF had gradually removed elements it considered unnecessary: therapist compliments, homework assignments, the team break and a separate stage of exception-finding. The result was an extremely minimalist version of SFBT in which the therapist leaves as few fingerprints as possible.

One key figure in the development of the approach is Evan George, who formulated the principle that therapists should not steal from clients the joy of what they have done.

BRIEF continues to train therapists internationally and to run workshops from its London centre.

Key concepts

Best hopes

A session begins not with the problem and not with a goal, but with the question: "What are your best hopes from our talking together?" Best hopes are more flexible than goals: they can be revised, clarified or let go. They are a starting point, not a contract.

Preferred future

The preferred future is a detailed description of life in which the client's hopes are being realized. The main tool is the Tomorrow Question: "You wake up tomorrow and your hopes are starting to happen. What would you notice first?" The description is built from concrete, observable details: what the client does, what they notice, and what other people see.

The preferred future is not a target to be achieved. It is a description that lets the client recognize the future when signs of it start to appear.

Noticing, not doing

Classical SFBTBRIEF
"What will you do to move forward?""How will you notice that things are moving in the right direction?"
The client searches for a solutionThe client is already in a process of change
Change through actionChange through new descriptions

This shift is the heart of BRIEF. Instead of planning action, the client learns to notice change that is already happening.

Self-compliments

BRIEF moved away from therapist compliments. Instead of "Well done," the therapist asks a sequence: "Are you pleased with what you did?" -> "What exactly are you pleased with?" -> "What does this say about you?" The client discovers their own competence, which is stronger than external praise.

The kind warning

This replaces homework. Rather than saying "Do X before next time," the therapist says: "If we meet again, the first thing I will ask is what has become a little better." The client leaves with attention to change, not with an obligation.

Three levels of minimalism

1. The client's time: better spent living a good life than doing therapy. 2. Therapy means: the smallest intervention that can create the largest useful effect. 3. Therapist footprint: fewer therapist fingerprints means more client autonomy.

Neutrality

The client should feel: "I did this myself." The therapist does not know what changes the client needs or when they will happen. The therapist does not push; the therapist informs the conversation with careful questions.

Therapy format
  • Number of sessions: usually 1-6, with an average around 3-4.
  • Duration: 45-60 minutes.
  • Frequency: chosen by the client, often 1-4 weeks between meetings.
  • Ending: the client decides when therapy is no longer needed.

Session structure: best hopes -> preferred future description -> scaling if there is time -> ending with self-compliments and a kind warning.

Later sessions begin with "What is better?" Even if the answer is "nothing," the therapist searches for minimal changes or for what prevented things from becoming worse.

Evidence base

BRIEF inherits the evidence base of SFBT as a broader family:

  • Umbrella review, 2024: 25 systematic reviews; overall SFBT effect size around d = 0.65, with high confidence for depression and general mental health.
  • Gingerich & Peterson, 2013: meta-analysis of 43 SFBT studies; significant positive effects in 74% of studies.
  • Stams et al., 2006: meta-analysis reporting effect size d = 0.37.

There are fewer randomized controlled trials specifically on the London BRIEF modification than on SFBT as a whole. Much of the evidence is practice-based, including systematic outcome tracking in BRIEF clinical work.

Limitations
  • Limited approach-specific research: BRIEF relies mainly on the broader SFBT evidence base.
  • Minimalism may not fit every client: some clients expect deep analysis of causes or structured assignments.
  • Critique of superficiality: a common objection from more analytic traditions; BRIEF answers that depth lies in the quality of the preferred-future description, not in analysis of the past.
  • Limited applicability in severe disorders: as with SFBT generally, psychosis, severe addiction and acute crisis often require combination with other methods.
  • Dependence on verbal description: the approach asks the client to construct descriptions; this can be difficult with marked cognitive impairment.
Best hopesThe beginning of therapy is not a concrete goal, but a way of being

The answers are with the client. The resources are with the client. Expertise in the client's life is also with the client. You have questions. That is enough.

Two routes, one logic. First session: best hopes -> preferred future -> scale -> ending. Later sessions: "what is better?" -> amplification -> scale -> ending.

The main instrument is "What else?" Ask it at least 5-7 times. By the fifth time, the client is no longer listing items; they are living inside the description.

MAIN QUESTION

"What are your best hopes from our talking together?"
"How will you know, in the end, that this conversation has been useful for you?"

✅ Do not move forward until there is at least some answer. Every later question rests on the client's hopes.

WHAT BEST HOPES ARE

Not a specific goal, but a way of being. Specific detail will emerge later in the preferred future description.

Goal — avoidBest hope — BRIEF
"Find a job""Feel satisfied with life"
Specific and measurableOpen, layered, many-sided
End pointWay of being

CHECK BEFORE MOVING ON

After clarifying best hopes, always check with the client:

"You are talking about being [client's wording]. If we talk now, and this leads to you being [client's wording again], is that what you would like from our conversation?"

✅ If the client says yes, move to the preferred future.

⚠️ If there is no yes, clarify and adjust. Do not move on.

1. Listen for 5-10 minutes. Nod, do not interrupt. 2. Acknowledge and ask about coping:

"This is a really difficult situation. How are you managing to cope with it? How are you getting through each day?"
"How have you got through this period? What has helped you hold on?"

The second version is more neutral: it does not evaluate the situation and moves directly toward coping.

3. Amplify with "What else?" three to five times, building a coping story.

T: For the children. What else helps you hold on?

C: I sometimes go to a friend.

T: What else?

C: I get up, do something around the house. Look for work.

T: Anything else?

Another story appears: not only "everything is bad," but also "I am doing something."

4. Bridge back to best hopes:

"You are going through a very hard period, and at the same time you are holding on: caring for the children, meeting a friend, looking for work. What are your best hopes from our conversation today?"

Wanting to bring back someone who died, undo a divorce, or cure the incurable is a life situation, not a problem to be solved.

1. Acknowledge: "This is an extremely hard situation, and it brings complicated feelings. That is understandable." 2. Clarify: "Unfortunately, our conversation cannot change that. So what might be possible? What can we do within this conversation?" 3. Move toward the realistic: cope, reconcile, find meaning, keep living.

Solution means a state in which the situation no longer dominates life. It has not disappeared; it no longer prevents living.

Preferred future"What else?" is the main BRIEF instrument

TOMORROW QUESTION

"Let's imagine you wake up tomorrow and your best hopes are beginning to happen. What would you notice first?"

The Tomorrow Question is shorter and more natural than the classical Miracle Question. Both lead to a preferred future description, but by different routes.

⚠️ Replace "How will you know?" with "What will you notice?" It is softer and does not sound like a test.

THE "WHAT ELSE?" TECHNIQUE

After every client answer, ask again:

What else?Anything else?What else would you notice?What else would be different?

✅ Ask at least 5-7 times. By the fifth or sixth answer, the client is already experiencing the future, not merely listing it.

T: When you wake up tomorrow and feel calm, what will you notice?

C: I will not be nervous in the morning.

T: What else?

C: I suppose I will eat breakfast calmly.

T: What else?

C: Maybe I will talk to my husband normally.

T: What else?

C: (pauses) I might put music on. I used to do that.

T: What else?

C: (pauses) Maybe I will smile at myself in the mirror. I have not done that for a long time.

By the fifth "what else?", she is already in that day. She put music on and smiled. This is not a plan; it is an experience.

✅ Tone: calm, lightly curious. After the question, allow at least 10-15 seconds of silence.

⚠️ "Too simple" is an illusion. Repeated "what else?" is what creates space.

FIVE CRITERIA FOR A GOOD DESCRIPTION

From the client's view — three criteria:

1. Positive: what WILL be present, not what will be absent.

"What will you feel instead of fear?"

2. Concrete actions: translate emotions into behavior.

"What will you do differently when calmness is there?"

3. Detail: time, place, context and small particulars.

"What exactly? At what time of day? Where?"

Through other people's eyes — two criteria:

4. Different viewpoints

"How will others notice? Who will notice first? What will your husband, children or colleagues say?"

5. Interaction

"When your wife notices that, what will she do? How will you respond?"

LANGUAGE OF POSSIBILITY

⚠️ Never be directive.

if.possibly.maybe.suppose.notice, not knowmight.
DirectiveBRIEF
"When you get to 4.""If you moved to 4, what might you notice?"
"How will you know?""What will you notice?"
"What will you change?""What might you possibly change?"

SILENCE IS A TOOL, NOT AWKWARDNESS

✅ Ask the question, close your mouth, wait 7-15 seconds, and keep waiting until the client speaks.

Always stay silent after:

"What else?""What does this say about you?""What are your best hopes?"any open question

What not to do in the pause:

⚠️ Rephrase: "What I mean is."

⚠️ Clarify too quickly: "For example, maybe in the morning."

⚠️ Offer options: "Maybe calmness? Or confidence?"

"All right. And if you did know, what might it be?"
"Imagine that in a week you remembered the answer. What might it have been?"

Deep answers often come after the pause: "I am stronger than I thought," "my family matters to me," "I have been fighting for them."

ScalingNot an action plan, but a search for what already works

SCALE QUESTION

"Imagine a scale where 10 means all your best hopes are happening, and 0 means the worst things have been. Where are you now?"

In BRIEF, scaling is built-in exception finding. "How come it is three and not zero?" searches for what is already present from the preferred future.

DOWNWARD QUESTIONS: THE MAIN WORK (WHAT IS ALREADY THERE)

The client says, "I am at three." Ask:

"How come it is three?"
"What have you already done to get to three?"
"What stops it from being lower?"
"When was the score highest? What were you doing then?"

After every answer: ask "What else?" three to five times. Then ask: "What does this say about you?"

AvoidSay
"Why three?""How come it is three?"
"Why not lower?""How have you managed to hold it there?"
"Why did you do that?""How did you manage that?"

UPWARD QUESTIONS: GENTLY

"If you moved up to four, what might you notice?"

⚠️ Not "when you move up to 4." Remove the presupposition. Use only "if."

⚠️ The scale is not an action plan. Not "what do you need to do to move up?"

⚠️ Do not use the scale as a progress report.

SCALING IN LATER SESSIONS

"Remember the scale we talked about? Where are you now?"

If higher: "How did that happen? What did you do?" + "What else?"

If the same: "How did you manage to stay at the same level? What held it there?"

If lower: "What helps keep it from going even lower? How are you holding on?"

⚠️ Do not turn the scale into a progress report. The focus is the client's actions, not the number.

Ending the first sessionThe client formulates the takeaway, not us

SIMPLE CLOSING

"I think I have run out of questions. Is there anything I have not asked, or anything you would like to add?"
"Would you like to meet again?"

EVAN GEORGE'S QUESTION

"What did you hear in your own words during our conversation that might be useful for you? What could you take away and use?"

✅ The client formulates the summary. Not us; the client.

KIND WARNING

"If you decide to come back, let me warn you: the first question I will ask will be, 'What is better?' So if you start noticing that now, the next meeting may be easier."

This is information about how the next meeting will go. It is not a task. The client decides.

HomeworkWarning
"Do X before the next meeting""I will ask about Y; you can notice it if you want"
Requirement, expectationInformation, client choice
Risk of shame if not doneNo expectation, no shame
"What is better?"Later sessions always begin with this question

OPENING QUESTION

"What is better?"
"What has become a little better since we last met?"

⚠️ Not "what is better in relation to your best hopes." Simply "what is better?"

⚠️ Not "how was your week?" That opens space for problems, not changes.

✅ After the first answer: ask "What else?" at least 5-7 times. The most interesting material often comes at the end.

ACCEPT EVERYTHING: THREE ACTIONS

1. Repeat the client's words: show that you heard. 2. Do not evaluate: no "well done!", no "that's small", no "that doesn't count." 3. Dig further: "What else?", "What did that give you?", "How did you manage?"

⚠️ "Yes, that's tiny; anything more serious?"

T: You got up earlier. What else was better? C: I had time to eat breakfast properly. T: What else? C: I wasn't late for work. T: How did you manage to get up earlier? C: I set the alarm 10 minutes earlier and got up right away instead of lying there.

From a "tiny thing" comes a chain: breakfast -> not late -> intentional action.

⚠️ "That doesn't count; it wasn't up to you"

T: Good weather. What did you notice when the weather was good? C: I went out for a walk. T: How did you manage to go for a walk? C: Well, I just decided I needed to. T: What does that say about you? C: (thinks) That I can make decisions and do something for myself.

From "chance" comes action (decided to go out) -> quality (I make decisions).

⚠️ "That is not related to your best hopes"

T: You bought a sweater. What did that give you? C: I felt better. T: What else changed? C: I generally thought more about myself this week. T: How did you manage that? C: I realized I shouldn't forget myself.

From "not the topic" comes thinking about myself -> not forgetting myself. That matters.

⚠️ Do not immediately agree and do not move into the problem.

T: All right. Tell me a little: what happened this week? C: Well. same as usual. Another fight with my husband. T: How did you manage to get through it this week? C: Well, somehow I coped. T: What helped you cope?

Move to coping questions: look for what keeps the client going.

REVIEWING BEST HOPES

In the second or third session, you can ask:

"Have your best hopes stayed the same, or has something changed?"

✅ Best hopes are not a contract. They can change. That is normal.

Consolidating changesFrom action → to quality → to other areas of life

FOUR STEPS OF CONSOLIDATION

C: I did not get into a conflict with my husband this week.

Step 1: Strategic question. Break it down into actions.

"How did you manage that? What exactly did you do?"

Ask "What else?" three to five times until you get a sequence.

C: I noticed I was starting to get irritated. T: What else did you do? C: I went out onto the balcony to breathe. T: What else? C: Then I came back and calmly said what I needed.

Sequence: noticed -> went out -> returned calmer -> said what was needed. It can be repeated.

Step 2: Identity question. Connect actions with qualities.

"What does this tell you about yourself? Which qualities of yours helped?"

Ask "What else?" two to three times until qualities emerge.

C: Maybe that I can control my reactions. T: What else does this say about you? C: That my relationship with my husband matters to me. I don't want to damage it over small things. T: Anything else? C: That I can take care of myself: I went out to breathe instead of just enduring it.

Step 3: Transfer. Expand to other situations.

"If this ability of yours [name the quality] showed up somewhere else, where might it be useful?"

C: Probably at work. I also snap at colleagues sometimes. T: If you noticed irritation there and took a pause, what would that look like? C: I would say "one moment" and go get water.

The client transferred the skill to another area themselves. That consolidates the change.

SELF-COMPLIMENTS

⚠️ "You are amazing!" "This is a big achievement!" "I am proud of you!"

✅ Instead, ask a sequence of self-evaluation questions:

1. "Are you pleased with what you did?" 2. "How pleased?" (you can use a 0-10 scale) 3. "What exactly are you pleased with?" 4. "How did you manage it?" 5. "What does this say about you?"

C: I went to the job interview this week! T: You went to the interview. Are you pleased with what you did? C: Yes, I am. T: How pleased? On a scale? C: Well, 8. T: Eight is a lot. What exactly are you pleased with? C: That I finally dared to do it. I had been putting it off for a long time. T: What does this say about you? C: That I can overcome fear. That I don't give up.

⚠️ "No, no, it is important!" Do not argue or persuade.

T: You see it as a small thing. And what would not be a small thing for you? C: Well, if I did that every day for a whole week. T: All right. And today you got up earlier. What did that give you? C: Well, I had a proper breakfast. It was pleasant. T: It was pleasant. Are you pleased that you got up earlier? C: Yes, generally yes.

Accept the devaluation and dig in another direction.

Ending therapyEvery meeting may be the last, and that is normal

In BRIEF there is no fixed endpoint. The client senses when they can continue finding paths toward a good future on their own.

"Would you like to meet again, or do you feel that you can keep coping on your own from here?"

✅ The therapist does not decide when to end. The client decides.

Best HopesBest Hopes

The signature London BRIEF opening question for a first session: "What are your best hopes from our working together?" It replaces the traditional "What brings you here?" and any routine history-taking. Every word matters: "your" means the client's hopes, not the therapist's; "best" invites bold rather than small change; "hopes" are more open and realistic than goals or wishes. The question immediately sets the direction: begin with the problem and the conversation becomes problem-focused; begin with hopes and the conversation is oriented toward solution.

  • Ask the question evenly and with interest: "What are your best hopes from our working together?"
  • Listen to the answer as a desired difference in life, not as information about the therapy process.
  • If the answer is abstract, such as "to be happier," ask: "How would that look in your everyday life?"
  • If the client answers with a problem, such as "stop being anxious," gently translate: "And what would be there instead?"
  • Move into the preferred future: "If you woke up tomorrow and those best hopes were beginning to happen."

When to use:

  • Always at the beginning of the first session.
  • With referred clients, especially when other people have defined the problem.
  • With several participants, because each person answers the question.
  • When the client has a vague request and needs focus.

Key phrases:

What are your best hopes from our working together?

Follow-up questions:

How would that look in your everyday life?
And what would be there instead? If the anxiety was gone, what would come in its place?
What difference would that make for you and for the people close to you?

Warnings:

  • ⚠️ Do not turn the answer into diagnostic information; listen to it as the basis for the next question.
  • ⚠️ Do not interpret or evaluate the answer.
  • ⚠️ If the client says "I don't know," give time and gently ask: "If you did know, what might it be?"

Ratner, George & Iveson, 2012; George, Iveson & Ratner, 1999; BRIEF (London)

Details →
Preferred FuturePreferred Future (Tomorrow Question)

A minimalist version of the Miracle Question developed in London BRIEF. Instead of a long ritual wording about a miracle, the therapist asks a short question about tomorrow, linked directly to the client's best hopes. The focus is not on absence of the problem but on the presence of what is wanted. The therapist helps the client describe an ordinary day transformed by the best hopes in detailed behavioral and sensory terms, including what the client notices, what other people notice, and how interactions change.

  • Connect to Best Hopes: "If you woke up tomorrow and [best hopes] were beginning to happen, what would be the first thing you noticed?"
  • Build a simple sequence of the day: morning, daytime, evening.
  • Deepen through second-order differences: "What might be different in the way you go to work on such a day?"
  • Add other people's perspectives: "What would your partner or colleague notice? What would they see that was different?"
  • Look for instances: moments when something from the description is already happening.

When to use:

  • First session after best hopes, usually as the main part of the conversation.
  • When the client struggles to formulate a concrete goal.
  • When the client is stuck in a problem-saturated narrative.
  • As preparation for finding instances: describe first, then find what is already there.

Key phrases:

If you woke up tomorrow and your best hopes had started to come true, what would be the very first thing you noticed?

Follow-up questions:

What might be different in the way you spend that morning?
What would your partner or colleague notice? What would be different in you?
What else would you notice? What else would be different?

Warnings:

  • ⚠️ Do not turn the description into an action plan or obligation.
  • ⚠️ Use tentative language: "what might" rather than "what will."
  • ⚠️ Do not invite an ideal day; invite an ordinary life changed by the presence of best hopes.
  • ⚠️ Deepen with concrete detail, not abstract lists.

Ratner, George & Iveson, 2012; George, Iveson & Ratner, 1999; BRIEF (London)

Details →
EARSEARS (Elicit, Amplify, Reinforce, Start Over)

A process framework for working with progress and instances: moments when the preferred future is already happening. Elicit means drawing out change with a question that presupposes progress. Amplify means asking for detail so the client experiences the success more fully. Reinforce means acknowledging the significance of the change without taking credit or praising from above. Start Over means asking "what else is better?" and repeating the cycle. London BRIEF prefers the term instances to exceptions: exceptions are tied to the problem, while instances are tied to the solution.

  • Elicit: ask "What is better?" or "Which signs of your best hopes have you noticed?"
  • Amplify: ask for detail: when exactly, what was different, who noticed, what happened next.
  • Reinforce: acknowledge the client's contribution: "How did you manage that?" or "What does that say about you?"
  • Start over: ask "What else is better?" and repeat as long as the client finds material.

When to use:

  • Follow-up sessions as the main conversation structure.
  • In a first session after the preferred future description, when searching for instances.
  • Whenever the client reports any progress.
  • During scaling when the score is higher than before.

Key phrases:

What is better since we last met?

Follow-up questions:

Tell me more about that. When exactly did it happen?
What was different this time? What were you doing differently?
Who noticed? What did they see?
How did you manage to do that?

Warnings:

  • ⚠️ Do not skip Amplify; one brief "good" is not enough.
  • ⚠️ Do not evaluate progress for the client; acknowledge rather than praise.
  • ⚠️ If the client says nothing is better, move to coping questions.
  • ⚠️ EARS is a live conversational process, not a mechanical protocol.

De Jong & Berg, 2002; Ratner, George & Iveson, 2012; BRIEF (London)

Details →
What's Better?What's Better?

The signature London BRIEF opening question for every follow-up session. It replaces neutral openings such as "How are you?" or "How was your week?" The presupposition matters: "What is better?" assumes that some improvement has already happened and invites the client to search for evidence rather than argue against change. It redirects attention from problem to progress, strengthens agency because the client defines what counts as better, and creates an expectation of noticing progress between sessions.

  • Open the session with: "What is better?" or "What is better since we last met?"
  • Wait; silence is normal while the client searches memory.
  • If the client finds something, move into EARS: amplify, acknowledge, ask what else.
  • If the client says "nothing," do not argue; ask coping questions such as "How are you managing?"
  • If the client says things got worse, acknowledge the difficulty and ask how they are holding on.

When to use:

  • At the beginning of every later session.
  • As the start of the EARS cycle.
  • When the session needs to be quickly oriented toward progress.

Key phrases:

What is better?

Follow-up questions:

What is better since we last met?
What is better, even a little?
What changes have you noticed?

Warnings:

  • ⚠️ Do not insist if the client cannot find improvement; shift to coping questions.
  • ⚠️ Do not suggest answers; the client must identify change.
  • ⚠️ Do not dismiss "nothing is better"; that is the client's reality.
  • ⚠️ Do not use it as the first question in a first session; use Best Hopes there.

Ratner, George & Iveson, 2012; De Jong & Berg, 2002; BRIEF (London)

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First Session Formula TaskFirst Session Formula Task (FSFT)

A universal first-session task from de Shazer: a skeleton key for initiating change. The client is asked to observe what is already good in life and what they would like to continue, rather than monitoring the problem. Research reported that many clients came to the second session with positive events noticed after the first meeting. The task activates resource-focused attention and sets a solution orientation from the beginning.

  • Near the end of the first session, pause for reflection.
  • Offer the task: "Between now and next time, notice what happens in your life that you would like to continue."
  • Do not overexplain; keep the wording open.
  • At the next session, ask first: "What did you notice?"
  • Use the answers as material for further work: instances and resources are already present.

When to use:

  • At the end of a first session.
  • When the direction of work is not yet clear.
  • When the client is completely focused on the problem.
  • As a way to give responsibility for noticing back to the client.

Key phrases:

Before we meet again, I ask you to do one thing: notice what happens in your life that you would like to continue. You do not have to write it down; just be attentive to it.

Follow-up questions:

Do not look for anything special. Simply notice what happens that you would like to keep.
Small or ordinary things count, as long as you would like them to continue.

Warnings:

  • ⚠️ Do not explain the task too much; overexplaining makes the client prepare artificially.
  • ⚠️ Do not overload the first session with other tasks.
  • ⚠️ If the client notices nothing, that also becomes material for therapy.

de Shazer & Molnar, 1984; de Shazer, 1985

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Exception FindingException Finding

A technique for finding moments when the problem was absent or less intense. De Shazer assumed that a problem is never completely constant; there are always exceptions. These exceptions are built-in solutions that can be discovered and amplified. The focus shifts from pathology to resource: what the client already does well when things are better. London BRIEF often prefers the term instances: times when the preferred future is already happening.

  • Ask about exceptions: "Were there times when the problem was smaller or did not bother you?"
  • If the client finds one, explore it in detail: what exactly was happening then?
  • Ask what the client did differently and what else was different: place, people, timing.
  • Strengthen agency: "How did you do that? What do you think helped?"
  • Invite the client to notice or repeat similar conditions intentionally, without turning it into a rigid prescription.

When to use:

  • When the problem seems constant and total to the client.
  • Depression: "it is always bad"; anxiety: "I am never calm."
  • When the client says nothing ever changes.
  • When you want to find resources without introducing a new technique.

Key phrases:

Were there days when this bothered you less, or moments when it was a little easier? Tell me about one of those times.

Follow-up questions:

What was different that time? What did you do differently, or what was different around you?
How did you manage then? What do you think helped?
If you wanted to repeat something about that day, what might you do?

Warnings:

  • ⚠️ If the client denies all exceptions, do not push; return to preferred future or coping.
  • ⚠️ Distinguish chance exceptions from deliberate exceptions; the latter are especially useful.
  • ⚠️ Do not make the search sound like blame: the client is not responsible for causing the problem.

de Shazer, 1985; de Shazer, 1988; Berg & de Shazer

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Miracle QuestionMiracle Question

The classic SFBT question: suppose a miracle happens overnight and the problem is solved, but the client does not know because they are asleep. What will tell them in the morning that the miracle happened? The question creates a detailed picture of solution without needing to analyze the problem. De Shazer and Berg observed that answers automatically create a direction for therapy and between-session experiments.

  • Prepare the client: "I want to ask an unusual question that uses imagination."
  • Ask slowly, with pauses, and give the client time.
  • After the first answer, ask for detail: "What else? What would other people notice?"
  • Ask about relationships: "How would your partner, colleagues or children behave?"
  • Find pieces of the miracle that are already happening now.

When to use:

  • When the client is stuck describing the problem and cannot formulate a goal.
  • Early in work when the goal needs to be stated in positive terms.
  • With clients living away from the problem rather than toward a goal.
  • As preparation for the pretend technique.

Key phrases:

Suppose that tonight, while you are asleep, a miracle happens. The problem that brought you here is solved. But because you were asleep, you do not know the miracle happened. When you wake up tomorrow morning, what will be the first thing that tells you the miracle happened?

Follow-up questions:

What else would be different?
How would people close to you notice? What would they see or hear?
Is there anything from this that already happens sometimes, even a little?

Warnings:

  • ⚠️ Ask slowly and do not rush after "I don't know."
  • ⚠️ If the client moves into unrealistic fantasy, gently return to behavioral details of life.
  • ⚠️ Do not use during acute crisis before stabilization.

de Shazer, 1988; Berg & de Shazer, 1993; originally formulated by Insoo Kim Berg in 1984

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Scaling QuestionsScaling Questions

The client rates state, progress or confidence on a scale from 0 to 10. The technique arose spontaneously when a client told de Shazer that he was already almost at 10, and therapists began to use numbers systematically. A scale turns subjective, elusive experience into a conversational measure and helps the client track movement. The key question is not the number itself but "why not lower?" because it activates resources and what has already been achieved.

  • Set the scale: "On a scale from 0 to 10, where 0 is the worst it has been and 10 is how things will be when solved, where are you now?"
  • Explore from below: "Why N and not lower? What is already there that keeps you at this level?"
  • Ask about the next step: "What would need to happen to move one point higher?"
  • Use the answer to plan a concrete next experiment or observation.
  • Repeat at later sessions to track movement.

When to use:

  • Tracking progress between sessions.
  • Setting concrete next steps rather than abstract goals.
  • Working with motivation and confidence.
  • When the client says nothing changes and the scale can make movement visible.
  • Assessing risk or motivation when used carefully.

Key phrases:

On a scale from 0 to 10, where are you now? Zero is the worst it has been, and ten is how it will be when things are solved.

Follow-up questions:

Why N and not lower? What is already there that keeps you at this point?
What would need to happen to move one point higher, just one, not all the way to 10?
Who close to you might give you a higher score, and why?

Warnings:

  • ⚠️ Do not interpret the number for the client; ask what it means to them.
  • ⚠️ If the client says 0 or 10, explore carefully because extremes are often less useful.
  • ⚠️ The scale is a conversational and reflective tool, not an objective measurement device.

de Shazer & Berg, approximately 1984-1988; de Shazer, 1988

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Skeleton KeysSkeleton Keys

De Shazer used the metaphor of a skeleton key: one key opens many different locks. Skeleton keys are formula interventions: universal tasks that can be useful across many different problems without detailed analysis of content. De Shazer's radical discovery was that the solution does not have to be directly related to the problem. Famous keys include FSFT, "do something different" and "pretend." The mechanism is learning new behavior through a standardized but flexible algorithm.

  • Find out what the client usually does when the problem begins.
  • Offer one of the skeleton keys, for example: "Next time this starts, do anything different."
  • Clarify possible versions of different behavior and give a few examples if needed.
  • Emphasize that it does not have to be the right solution; it only needs to be different.
  • At the next session, ask what happened and what the client noticed.

When to use:

  • When the pattern is unclear but some intervention is needed now.
  • When the client resists more specific or personalized tasks.
  • At the end of a first session as a standard task.
  • Across varied problems with no obvious common theme.

Key phrases:

When this starts again, do anything that you do not usually do. Literally anything different. It does not have to be right; just different.

Follow-up questions:

Do not think too much about whether it will help. Sing, write, walk, do anything as long as it differs from the usual route.
This does not mean doing something strange or risky. It means stepping out of the automatic route.
Then tell me what happened. We are interested in the difference itself, not in its deep meaning.

Warnings:

  • ⚠️ "Anything different" does not mean dangerous or destructive; clarify this in advance.
  • ⚠️ The technique works by interrupting automatic patterns, not by insight; do not overexplain.
  • ⚠️ It may not fit clients expecting deep causal work unless expectations are discussed first.

de Shazer, 1985

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Observation TaskObservation Task

The client is asked not to change behavior but simply to observe: what happens around the problem, or what is already good in life. This has two effects: it interrupts immediate reactions because the client is busy noticing rather than solving, and it gathers material for the next session. In solution-focused work, the observation is directed toward what works: when things are better, what helps, what the client would like to keep.

  • Ask: "Before our next meeting, I would like you to observe [specific focus]."
  • Define the object of observation: what happens when things are better, how others respond, what helps.
  • Say explicitly: do not change behavior; only notice.
  • Short notes are optional.
  • At the next session, begin with: "What did you notice?"

When to use:

  • Early in work, when it is unclear which intervention is needed.
  • When the client is reactive and needs a pause between stimulus and response.
  • As a transition before more active tasks.
  • To strengthen attention to instances of the preferred future.

Key phrases:

Between our meetings, I want to ask one thing: notice what exactly happens when things are a little better. Do not change anything; just notice.

Follow-up questions:

What happens when you feel better? Who is nearby? What are you doing?
Notice what happens that you would like to continue.
If you can catch it, notice what you are thinking too.

Warnings:

  • ⚠️ The task must be specific, otherwise the client will not know what to observe.
  • ⚠️ Observation itself can change the pattern; that is acceptable.
  • ⚠️ Orient observation toward what works, not only what fails.

de Shazer, 1985; Ratner, George & Iveson, 2012

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Prediction TaskPrediction Task

The client predicts each evening whether the next day will be better or worse, often on a 0-10 scale. The following evening they compare the prediction with reality and consider what influenced the difference. The technique strengthens authorship: the client begins to notice that something affects the quality of the day, and sometimes that something is their own action. It is useful when the client feels helpless or when symptoms feel unpredictable.

  • Explain the task: "Each evening before sleep, predict on a 0-10 scale how tomorrow will go."
  • Ask the client to record the prediction.
  • The next evening, rate how the day actually went on the same scale.
  • If the rating differs from the prediction, ask what happened, what influenced it, and what the client did differently.
  • Bring the notes to the next session.

When to use:

  • Depression with the feeling that every day is equally bad.
  • Helplessness and a sense of no control over life.
  • Unpredictable symptoms such as panic attacks or mood swings.
  • When the client does not see links between action and wellbeing.

Key phrases:

Each evening before sleep, predict whether tomorrow will be better or worse on a scale from 0 to 10. Then the next evening, write down how it actually was.

Follow-up questions:

If the prediction did not match, what might have influenced the difference?
When the day went better than expected, what were you doing?
When the prediction was accurate, what was typical about that day?

Warnings:

  • ⚠️ Do not turn it into a routine diary; the focus is on differences and what influenced them.
  • ⚠️ If the client forgets, discuss what got in the way; that itself is material.
  • ⚠️ Do not use in acute suicidality if daily ratings intensify fixation on bad days.

de Shazer, 1988

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Pretend TechniquePretend Technique

The client is invited to act as if the desired change had already happened, in a playful experimental way. Pretending reduces perfectionistic pressure: if it is only pretend, there is no responsibility to make it real and failure becomes impossible. It is a behavioral experiment without pressure. It is often used after the Miracle Question, because the client already has a description of desired behavior and can try it safely.

  • After describing the desired future, ask: "What if you tried for one day to behave as if this had already happened?"
  • Clarify that the task is not to become another person, but to act in the way the client described.
  • Ask the client to choose a specific day or moment.
  • At the next session, ask what happened, what the client noticed, and what other people noticed.

When to use:

  • After the Miracle Question or preferred future description.
  • With clients who cannot start for real because of perfectionism.
  • When the client knows how they would like to act but is blocked by anxiety.
  • With low confidence, because pretend lowers the threshold.

Key phrases:

What if you chose one day this week and pretended that the miracle had already happened, just to see what happens? Not because it is true, but as an experiment.

Follow-up questions:

People close to you may not know you are pretending. It will be interesting to see what they notice.
It does not need to be perfect. You are just trying it, like an actor in rehearsal.
Choose the day yourself. When would be easiest to try?

Warnings:

  • ⚠️ The client should choose the day; an imposed day reduces engagement.
  • ⚠️ If the miracle includes other people's behavior, refocus on what depends on the client.
  • ⚠️ Do not ask whether it worked; ask what they noticed.

de Shazer, 1985, 1988; Berg & de Shazer

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ALLIANCE

FOCUS

INTERVENTIONS

PRESENCE

ENDING

🔧 Adapted diary
This approach does not define a standardized client diary. We prepared an adapted version based on its key concepts. If you have suggestions, write to us.
Solution Diary

SFBT focuses on solutions, not on problems.

By noticing what already works, you find resources for change.

Write down what got better → what helped → the next step.

Materials are informational and educational and summarize publicly available scientific sources. They are not medical or psychological advice, are not intended for self-diagnosis or self-treatment, and do not replace consultation with a qualified professional.