Abstract
In Learning Solution-Focused Therapy, Anne Lutz outlines a template for a particular approach to mental health problems. The basis of this form of therapy is that the answer is always with the patient and that whatever problems a particular individual has, there is always something that they are doing right, and that is what the focus of the therapeutic interview should be on.
This book reads as a manual, with each chapter based around a particular aspect of solution-focused therapy which includes some description, a case example, a transcript of a possible interview with annotated key points and tables with examples of questions that the therapist (and patient) might find useful. There are also clear video examples to illustrate different aspects of the therapy that can be viewed online.
Solution-focused therapy goes against the orthodoxy of conventional health care (‘what is your problem, and how can we help’), and this guide is remarkable in how it clearly outlines an alternative approach to mental health problems that can easily be adopted by clinicians of any professional background. It also breaks down barriers of the idea that psychotherapy has to exist in a formal therapy relationship, as the author outlines how solution-focused therapy can also be used in mental health assessments, team meetings and supervisions.
The guide goes some way to tackle criticisms that some may have that enquiring about people’s personal history and recognising and sharing in their particular trauma are often seen as important steps in the mental healing process, which could be neglected in solution-focused therapy as it largely involves using people’s positive attributes to move forward. Anne Lutz devotes a chapter to this problem, ‘solution-focused assessment’, in which she stipulates how solution-focused assessment can be used as an interview technique in establishing a particular person’s personal history.
The author is a convincing advocate of solution-focused therapy and has described how it can be applied to all areas of clinical practice, including training and supervision. Although her particular specialty is in child and adolescent mental health, it would have been helpful to have some case studies on adult cases as well to illustrate how this approach could be applied across psychiatry.
The preface includes a description of how solution-focused therapy is ‘an evidence-based practice that focuses on creating conversations that build solutions’. Unfortunately, none of that evidence-based practice is outlined, and it would be helpful to the reader to have some understanding of the evidence-based practice behind this form of therapy. Also, missing is the patient’s perspective on this type of the therapy – do some people prefer a more traditional detailed exploration of their problems and its causes? Although it is described how information can be gathered with solution-focused therapy, do patients feel as listened to as they would with the problem-centred approach?
Learning Solution-Focused Therapy is easily understood, accessible and offers a template for how those with little formal psychotherapy training can make simple changes to their clinical practice to help achieve therapeutic goals. There are certainly lessons here that we can all learn from and bring to our daily practice.