The Brief Therapy Toolkit Ebook V9

The Brief Therapy Toolkit
Solutions in a youth work setting
By Michael Dawson

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Michael Dawson
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A sincere hats off to the numerous professionals with whom I
have worked on a personal level, or whose work has
influenced, inspired, or been borrowed from, stolen, or
adapted by me.
Michael Dawson
”If I have seen further, it is by standing on the
shoulders of giants.”
Sir Isaac Newton
'Research your own experience; absorb what is
useful, reject what is useless and add what is
essentially your own.'
Bruce Lee

1 - Introduction
Over decades working in the people business, I've
attended and presented numerous inspiring and
influential courses in various therapeutic
models. As the years passed, I adapted many of the
techniques into my daily work. Later, I developed my own
training as a way of passing on the knowledge I'd acquired.
In time, I came to realise that although my previous
training had been immensely useful, it didn't always copy
and paste into my working life so easily. Secondly, I found
that the various models required a level of loyalty to their
methods. That's why I hope the Brief Therapy Toolkit will

appeal to those who aren't therapists in a traditional sense
and might well have no intention of being so. Instead, you
need the tools of the brief therapy approach to be adapted
and adopted into a working life that's very different from
the therapist's couch.
If your job involves day-to-day contact and influence with
young people, then I wrote this course for you. I've worked
with the health service, police, youth workers, and
educators.
This is why I came up with the phrase;
“Not to make you a therapist, but to not, not
make you a therapist.”
The meaning of this phrase is that as youth workers, we
advance and benefit the lives of our clients. Throughout my
decades of experience in varied roles, the solution-focused
approach has always been my first love, my go-to model for
helping young people in every role. Aside from my business
background, I've worked in residential care, mental health,
youth work, and of course, as a therapist in various guises.
These include my work with the young people of East

Manchester as well as family work and one-to-one therapy.
In all those years, I've been a passionate advocate of the
solution-focused model, and it has served me well. I can
honestly say that I saw every role through the solutionfocused
lens.
I believe there’s a real need for the Brief Therapy Toolkit, a
training programme that would help individuals and teams
become solution-focused workers instead of therapists. I
wanted to develop something with a broad tilt towards the
frontline youth workers in every role. Whether working in
youth centres, projects, education, or family work.
In my attempt to do this, I've tried to take the brief therapy
model to pieces in the hope that together, we can put it
back together in a way that can be effective in your daily
life.
In the Brief Therapy Toolkit, I hope to:
Break down the therapeutic model into its core
components
Make the training modular and to the point
Help professionals put the model back together in a way
that suits their role
Reflect our physical training courses as closely as possible

Allow the client to be the expert in the room The idea is not
to make you therapists; it's to not, not make you therapists.
I’m excited to share the solution-focused brief therapy
model with you.
"A solution-focused worker does not need a
problem to solve.” - Michael Dawson
It would be ambitious and arrogant to ask you, as a
professional with years of experience, to take everything I
say verbatim. I encourage you to question at every point
whilst being open to new solutions. Like tearing a page
from a magazine at the dentist, I hope you’ll steal these
methods and take them back to the workplace in a way that
works for you.
This is a serious business, so let’s not take it too seriously. -
Michael Dawson
So, I’m very excited to open the Brief Therapy Toolkit for
you. By the end of this book and training, you’ll have a very
good outline of the tools, their uses, and most importantly,
what they can do for you.
Remember, you as the trainee are the expert in the room.

This is not an academic training course; it’s designed to be
experiential.
Have fun, be curious, question, and most
importantly, enjoy the journey.

2 - The History of Brief Therapy
There are some dark days in the history of mental
health, before science separated the physical
brain from the mind. Eventually, we came to an
understanding that there was little connection between the
two. Possession by demons, electric shock treatment, and
lunatic asylums are scattered through modern history.
Some were the root of sayings and expressions that still
exist today. "You need your head feeling,” a phrase my own
mother still used in the 70s, references the practice of

Phrenology, which presumes to offer an explanation of
personality by the bumps and lumps on the head.
Franz Mesmer believed in an
inherent magnetic field that could be
interrupted between humans and
inanimate objects. It was he who
coined the term “Animal
Magnetism.”
He was an early pioneer in hypnosis, and of course, we still
hear the term “mesmerised.”
Early talking therapies developed by Jung and Freud would
often focus on the past, childhood relationships, or trauma.
By the 60s and 70s, we were starting to approach talking
therapy in a new, patient-centred way.
A key player in the development of Solution Focused
Therapy was undoubtedly Milton Erickson.

Before he came along, the general belief
was that mental problems had a deeper
causation from the past which had to be
routed out.
In general, it was accepted that therapy would also be a
long and painful process. Erickson took the opposite view,
that therapeutic input could be brief and painless, often a
single session. He also believed that a person and a
problem were part of a bigger system, to this end, he might
even include family members in the solution. He also
worked on symptoms as opposed to root causes, believing
that change happened in stages like the tipping of
dominoes. Anyone who has researched or trained in
Solution Focused work will find all of these principles very
familiar indeed.

Then came a computer programmer named Richard
Bandler and a linguist named John Grinder, captivated by
Erickson’s work. They wanted to study successful people
and work out how their behaviours and attitudes differed
from the average person. They studied a handful of
successful therapists in the same way, the objective being to
breakdown their actions into a kind of program that could
be replicated.
A common trait they discovered was how successful
therapists were deliberately vague in their suggestions, thus
opening up the client's mind to subconscious suggestion.
They also saw a pattern of rapport building and working
within the model of the client's world and removing the
traditional authority of the therapist.
The result was NLP - Neuro-Linguistic Programming, a
method of exploring how the way people feel and behave
influences their life.

Once again, the principles will be familiar to you as a
solution-focused practitioner. The removal of authority and
the use of vague suggestion allow clients the freedom to
find solutions that might not be available to the therapist.
What we now know as the Solution
Focused approach was developed in
the late 70s and early 80s by Steve de
Shazer and Insoo Kim Berg.
They and their colleagues developed the method at the
Brief Therapy Centre in Milwaukee. De Shazer was highly
influenced by the Mental Research Institute approach. In
essence, this model would involve enquiry into the client's
current handling of their situation and guidance towards
‘doing something different’.
De Shazer’s team soon noticed that there were occasions
when there were exceptions to the problem, and these
could be expanded upon.
For example, a drinker may well have times when she
doesn’t drink quite so much, or an abusive father may get
along with his teenage family. They called these incidents
‘exceptions’ and so would work on how these could be

expanded. The idea of exceptions is central to solutionfocused
work and was further developed using the
influence of Milton Erickson and his idea of a crystal ball or
a way to see an imagined future. Clients reacted positively
to a detailed description of the future where the problem
was less apparent.
This, of course, led to the ‘miracle question’.
Steve de Shazer wrote a number of books which are
required reading for those wishing to pursue the model
further.
In particular;
Clues: Investigating Solutions in Brief Therapy
by Steve De Shazer
Keys to Solution in Brief Therapy
by Steve De Shazer
The Solution Focused approach can be distilled into its
distinct trademark scenarios.
It helps a client discuss a preferred future and aids them in
seeing the progress they are making towards that future.

The client is the expert of their own lives, and the therapist
takes a more enquiring approach. They will remove their
authority in the therapy session and replace it with enquiry
and curiosity.
De Shazer worked on the assumption that all people had
the strengths and abilities to cope and make change. Like a
mobile, the smallest change will affect other things in a
person's life.
Change is inevitable anyway; it was more a case of how and
why that change took place.
Solution Focused Therapy has proven itself to effectively
help people with a wide range of chronic problems. These
include depression, bulimia, drug abuse, alcoholism, and
family difficulties.
Research shows it to bring about lasting change on average
in 5 sessions or less with a success rate of up to 83%.
In my service, we statistically showed client positive
outcomes with serious issues of 85%. There are now more
than 32 published research studies in solution-focused brief
therapy, which show successful outcomes in 65 - 83% of

cases. The highest satisfaction ratings come from clients
themselves. Solution-Focused therapy is often a mindset
and a way of approaching a problem rather than an answer
to a problem itself.
I was recently speaking to a CBT practitioner, and I
mentioned that my specialty was Solution Focused
Therapy.
“Yes, I hear it is very cult’ish, isn’t it?”
I thought for a moment and said, “Yes, maybe it is.”
I answered in that way because it’s a model that is most
often criticised by those without a deep knowledge or skill
in it.
Anyone who fully understands its workings cannot deny its
effectiveness. We will indeed address many of these
criticisms, but for now, I’d like to welcome you to the cult.
I hope these pages will serve as a reminder of our training
and be shared with your colleagues in the coming weeks.

3 - Session Walkthrough
As you will know by now, the structure of a
session is the basic format we work to. It is
simply a blueprint for our work with the client
and is important to give structure to the conversation. In
reality, it’s seldom the case that the conversation will follow
this course at all. It often goes off in different directions and
then returns or repeats certain sections; often large parts of
this structure simply do not apply to the session at all.
None of this is of any concern to the therapist. It’s just good
to have that structure there in the first place, providing

security for the therapist regardless of the problem that
comes to you. Working with clients and their families can
be highly charged and very emotional, and at times that
can be hard to control. By having a structure, we provide a
safe retreat for the therapist when they feel a bit lost. We
can gather our thoughts, work out where we are, and
continue. That said, here are the main chunks of a rare
perfect client-therapist session.
Relationship Building
You will remember from the training, and as demonstrated
later in this document, that the relationship between client
and therapist is claimed to provide up to 30% of the
positive outcome. That means that before any intervention
begins, you can be some way there if the client develops a
good relationship with you. I don’t have to emphasize how
quickly, as human beings, we make judgments about each
other. We have spoken in detail about the ethos of your
service and what clients expect when they arrive. It's
important that the client develops a positive relationship
with the service as well as you personally. That being said,
we will assume the clients have found themselves in a

comfortable, welcoming waiting area and will be there for a
short period of time. They will have been offered
refreshments and greeted by any passing members of staff,
etc. Reception staff will be expecting them and greet them
by name. This is the important first part of the session and
allows the client to start to make a relationship with the
therapist. This section is the usual small talk that comes
into play when we meet new people: How was your
journey? Do you know the area? Where are you from? etc.
In some ways, it relates to the two experiences we
discussed at the bank. In experience one, you go in, you
pass your documents over to pay in some money and then
you say thank you and leave. There is no problem, you are
just another pay-in, and there will be many more that day.
You don’t feel you have been given bad service because you
simply got what you expected. In experience two, the
cashier says, “Good morning Mr. Jones, how are you today?
Did you enjoy your holiday? How are the family? What
lovely weather we are having! Is there anything else I can
do for you? Come back soon?" You are no longer just
another pay-in. You are Mr. Jones, who has a family, a life,
and feelings. Which is the better experience? At this point,
the client can be given time to meet you and then be taken

into the session. Bear in mind, of course, that much of my
work, and yours possibly, may involve meeting at other
premises or even on the street, but the same courtesies
apply nonetheless.
How can we help...?
It has been said that the answer lies in the first few
sentences the client says to you once the session starts.
“What one small thing would make our meeting
worthwhile today?” The expectations of the client may be
far from the therapist's. By asking this question, we can
determine where the client is starting from. This is
important at the outset to try and determine what the
client’s expectations are of your service. It’s here that
motivation can be determined and how much the client
takes responsibility for their problem. So, reframing the
question in a number of ways can be useful: “What will you
be saying to your husband when you get home and today's
meeting was worthwhile?” “When you leave here later,
what would tell you that you were pleased you had
attended this meeting?” They could give a whole range of
responses that help determine the problem: "you would

take my kids in care", "I wouldn’t be depressed anymore", "I
would be a better parent", etc.
You may at this stage want to define the goal a little more to
make it more concrete. As one therapist once said about
goals, “Can you put it in a wheelbarrow?” i.e., being a
better parent is one thing, but what if you took the kids out
once a week? We will discuss goal setting later. This part of
the session will tend to be where the family lets off steam
with ‘he said, she said’ stuff. I tend to let that burn out
before taking control of the conversation. This can be a
while in some instances, but it tells a lot to watch and listen
to build a good picture of the relationships. In essence, this
can be a large chunk of the session.
What would make today worthwhile to you?
What's been better since your appointment was made?
Quite often, you can instigate positive change before the
client meets you. Having confirmed an appointment, I’d
say, “Oh, just one more thing, just make a mental note of

how things are between now and when we meet.” When we
ask the question in the session, “What’s been better since
your appointment was made?” they start to think of what
has improved in the past week. If we get that, then the
session is off to a great start because we already have
positive exceptions to work with. It works because of where
we focus our attention. Perhaps as you are reading this, you
could do the same: what’s good in your life recently, what
are you positive about? As you now know from the training,
our minds will focus on many different areas of our lives
and completely ignore others, depending on the mindset
we are in. Dr. Richard Wiseman illustrates this in his book
The Luck Factor. He proved scientifically that we create our
own good and bad luck.
How? Well, it doesn’t teach you how to win at the horses,
but to put it simply, luck is a mindset. My favorite example
is when he asks the question: If you went to the bank at
lunchtime and it was stuck up and you got shot in the arm,
is that good or bad luck? What do you think? Well, he found
that unlucky people thought it was bad luck; they could
have been killed. Typical for them to end up in that mess.
While the people who considered themselves to be lucky

actually said the opposite. They said how good it was they
didn’t get killed and they would be on the news, etc. Time
and time again, he proves that luck is an attitude. Not only
that, he proved it was behavior; once you believe you are
unlucky, you become blinkered and unwilling to take risks
for fear of failure. It works the same with individuals,
companies, football teams, and countries. How many teams
do you see on a losing streak miss open goals and keep
themselves stuck in a rut? So, by focusing the attention of
the client on things that are already improving, you set up a
positive step forward. I can tell you that there have been
occasions I did this, and the first session was the last. We
talked about how things had improved in the family and
how much they all cared about each other, and guess what.
They decided they didn’t really need to see me after all and
thanked me before heading off home. The greatest
compliment a therapist can get is when a client says, “Well,
I came to see you but managed to sort this thing out all by
myself.” It's covert or stealth therapy where you leave no
sign that you were there. Some practitioners call it leaving
no footprints, and it’s the greatest compliment to the
therapist for the client to feel they solved their own
problem.

Miracle Question
The miracle question is central to solution-focused therapy,
and yet those who are trained in the model will by now
have realized the skill of this model is the way that this
question is used in therapy. There are a number of tools
that we will need in our solution-focused armory that we
will discuss in more detail later. We will need to probe and
use scaling questions skillfully to help the client build a
picture of the future that is clear and concise. Before we go
further, let’s look at the miracle question in its purest form,
I say this because it can be adapted to the client and your
personality within reason. Having said that, this is the
miracle question verbatim: “If you were to leave this room
today and go home and go to bed and go to sleep. What if
while you were sleeping a miracle happened and all the
reasons you came here were gone. But you would not know
that the miracle has happened. When you get up tomorrow,
what’s the first thing that would tell you that things were
different?” Despite the question being adaptable, you will
know that there are a couple of interesting points to make
here if you are to get the response you need. Firstly, note

how the question says “the reason we are here.” This is vital
when speaking to families in particular because we are
making no assumptions about why they are here, what the
problem is, or even who is to blame. Each client on hearing
that can determine that for himself or herself and thus no
judgments are being made. I have been asked on numerous
occasions why clients don’t just say, well, my mum would
be alive, or I would have won the pools. Well, there are
ways of dealing with this, which I will go into later, but I can
sincerely tell you that in all the thousands of cases I have
dealt with, that has never happened once. This is
confirmed when speaking to other practitioners. Quite
simply, I think the client is aware of the reason they are in
the room and so apply themselves accordingly. It’s also
interesting how we suggest that this miracle happens
without the client’s knowledge. It’s only as they go through
their day that they realize that the problem has gone away.
You will often have to remind them that this is a miracle
day as they tend to drift back to the problem with “yeah,
but that would not happen because etc.” It’s important to
add as many senses to this imaginary day as possible. What
colors, smells, and feelings can you see or feel? What would
your mother, teacher, boss be saying to you? What would

they think? We will discuss questioning later, but it’s vital to
add as much color, smell, and feeling to that day as
possible. During the training, you’ll have heard the story of
me asking the miracle question to a father who went into
great depth about this miracle morning. I could see his
daughter and wife’s shock at how vividly and passionately
he described that day. He described the simplest of things
like his daughter saying good morning and giving him a kiss
before going to school, etc. It was very powerful and
emotional because these were the simple things he wanted
for his family. This is the art of future talk and imagining a
future without the problem. With enough probing and
questions, we can create a picture of the future. Once we
have this day, we can use the tools of the model in a
number of ways. We use this day as a barometer of
perfection if you like, say a ten out of ten day. By doing this,
you can help them get the problem into perspective. For
example, you may say, “If this day is a ten, what is the
nearest you have been to that recently? Also, what number
would you have to be at before you felt you did not need to
come here anymore?” If they were recently a three and
they would be happy to part your company with a seven,
then without acknowledging it, you have halved the

problem. Also, you can use the same barometer in future
sessions to gauge progress. At this point, we are brought
nicely into the theme of scaling questions.
Scaling Questions
Scaling questions are an excellent tool for gauging progress
and getting a consensus of opinion. The scale enables the
client to use his or her own judgment of a situation. You
will remember the exercise we did in training where
everyone rated the seriousness of certain situations and
how broad that reaction was. For example, "having a baby?"
Now, for some, that would be a disaster at this stage of life
and so would be rated very low, whereas for others, it
would be fantastic and rated at nine or ten. Everything is
relative, and this is particularly evident in family work. So
often, I have seen parents rate the seriousness of the family
conflict at say six, to the surprise of the young person who
thought it was a nine or ten. With this new information, it's
possible to bring the problem into context for everyone in
the room. Another use of scaling questions is to gauge
progress and ask what would instigate the tiniest change. If,
for example, we have determined that when we get to

seven, the family no longer needs us, and they are at a
three now, “What would get you to three and a quarter?”
What tiny change needs to happen between now and the
next time we meet? In this way, we are looking for the
tiniest changes in their lives. If you remember, one of the
rules of solution-focused therapy is that change is
inevitable; it's just how much control we have over that
change that matters.
Another common belief, certainly in the family therapy I
have practiced, is that families are like a mobile. The tiniest
push on one item shifts everything else in relation to it.
This is why the saying “Well, they all get treated the same”
can't make sense. How can that be? The first-born was an
only child and the first grandchild; the later children were
then brought up in a bigger household on a tighter budget,
and so on. The point still being that we are looking for the
tiniest changes in attitude or behavior to affect the bigger
picture. "If the miracle day is a ten, then what number do
you feel you are at now? Okay, if you are at a three now,
then what number would you have to be at before you felt
you did not need to see me again? Seven? Okay. We have
then psychologically reduced the problem by half. What

would have to happen to get you from a three to say, a
three and a quarter? On a scale of one to ten, how solvable
do you think this problem really is, and what could move
you up a quarter? Okay, if you have not moved up from a
three, what has made you able to stay at three and not go
down a scale?" Scaling questions are good indicators but
should always be calibrated to the client. The actual
numbers do not matter because they will be relative only to
the client.
Intervention Break and Task Setting
The intervention break is where both the therapist and
client take a break to think about and review the situation.
There is no set time for this, but it tends to come at a
natural part of the family discussion. Now, there have been
so many different ways of using the break and the model
talked about in books, and naturally during our courses,
and I would encourage you to be brave. Some of the earlier
practices seem extraordinary. There could be ten or so
therapists listening in to the whole session and giving
feedback later. Sometimes they are on the other side of a
two-way mirror and will phone into the room with requests

to prompt, clarify, or ask questions of the client. Like some
therapeutic version of deal or no deal. There have been
many takes on the intervention and the task setting, but in
general, if you worked in the environments I did, and most
of you do, you will be alone in a room with the client.
Maybe, as in the story I told earlier, my intervention break
was taken on the stairs of a youth club. In some instances,
you could go up to the team room and discuss the case with
co-workers. Either way, it's a time to gather thoughts and
summarize the case for yourself. So when you're ready,
then you can return to the room with a task in mind, but
before you introduce the task, you need to clarify the
situation. That means going back into the room and saying,
"Okay, let me be sure I understand you correctly, mum,
what I seem to be hearing you say is… etc. Get agreement
from the individuals and ensure that they are happy you
fully understand and have listened to them all. This is vital
before you start to introduce the task. The task will be your
intervention that the family can implement between now
and the next session. The task should be clear and concise
(can you put it in a wheelbarrow?) and if it’s imaginative
and small, then all the better. It is also better to ask the
client to do something and not to stop doing something.

The tasks should be achievable and challenging to the
client. There are many forms the task should take, and
imagination is more successful. My favorite is the case of
the woman who was becoming very distressed by her
daughter's temper tantrums. Whenever there was any
conflict in the house, the daughter would scream and shout
and stamp, even though she was in her teens; this
increased the mum’s stress levels, and the situation
constantly got out of hand. Both the daughter and the
mother were informed that the task was, that for the
coming week, mother was to arm herself with a small water
pistol; she was to carry it with her at all times. In the event
of a tantrum, then mum was to squirt it at her daughter.
The family returned the following week to say that things
were so much better. Of course, the mother had not once
taken the water pistol out of the bag. As soon as a tantrum
started, then mum went for the bag, and both of them
would break down into fits of laughter at the thought of
using it. This made it very difficult to remain angry at each
other, and as such, they had a brilliant week. It may have
been Erickson who, on finding himself at a loss, asked a
client had they tried sleeping on the other side of the bed.
Well, the client had not, but agreed to try. Of course, on

their return, they were able to report significant
improvements over the past week. These are extreme
examples, but in reality, you will often find it's the client
who will be telling you what the task should be. It will come
out in the session, hence the importance of the break.
There, in theory, is the first structured session, taking us
from problem to solution. There are many instances of
ending the intervention after the first session, and I have
had many of those myself. The thing to remember is that
you are attempting to pick up the client and set them on
their way. They do not need or want us in their lives, and so
we are constantly trying to do this. This can conflict once
more with some carer/social service intervention, which
tends to cultivate a culture of care and reliance. Having said
that, there will, of course, be follow-up sessions, and the
second session or what’s better session is an important one.
The "What's Better" session is precisely what it sounds like.
It typically begins with the first question being asked with
great confidence: "What's been better for you?" As we
discussed during the training, there's a concern about what
happens if nothing is better, or if things have worsened. It's

crucial to remember that when a client says nothing has
changed, what they're really saying is, "I haven’t noticed
any changes; can you help me?" Sometimes, the client is
focusing on the negative and hasn't put the whole week
into perspective. Remember the client who mentioned that
her child had stolen from her on Thursday?
Search for Positives
This involves looking for and finding the positives from the
preceding period. Yes, there may be setbacks and difficult
days; those are acknowledged. But sometimes, the positives
have to be actively sought out from the client. I worked
with a young family who described their family life as akin
to the Osbournes': constant noise, shouting, chasing the
kids around, etc. After the session, we agreed on some
changes, which meant that the dad had to keep a grip on
his explosive character. Despite all evidence to the contrary
(I assumed he could do it), I had shared how sometimes
when people are being loud, going quieter can make them
lower their volume to hear you. If you go louder, they go
louder. I asked him to try this for a week, even if it meant
he could come back and tell me it was rubbish to think he

could control the kids by calming down. When the family
returned the following week, I was anxious. But when I
asked, "Well, what's been better for you?" the father was
silent for a moment before shaking his head and saying,
"Unbelievable!" He couldn't believe the change in his house
and the atmosphere. Most times, if you've had a good first
session, the positives are readily presented to you.
However, you must be prepared to search for them if
necessary. Ignoring setbacks involves fishing through the
incidents, finding the slightest positive, and holding onto it
tightly. Questions like "Tell me more about that," "How did
that feel," "How did you do that," and "How would your
mother/teacher/brother have felt when you did that?" can
help amplify the positive.
Crank Up the Volume
Amplify the positive and be enthusiastic about it. Returning
to the doctor analogy, it feels better when a doctor
acknowledges your progress enthusiastically. Remember
the exercises about upgrading our language and the word
tower exercise from our training? Congratulating and
amplifying the significance of the positive is crucial.

Questions like "That is great, how did you do that?" "It must
have been very difficult for you," and "What about the other
kids, how did you get around that?" help amplify the
achievement. We're often dealing with clients who have
much lower expectations of themselves, so achievements
like staying in mainstream classes or getting to school on
time are significant.
Start Again
After establishing the positives, go over the scenario again
in more depth or from a different perspective. Delve deeper
into how they overcame obstacles, ensuring they know you
fully understand how they achieved their success. Then,
start back at the beginning and repeat the process all over
again. We did exercises on this, and we know how much
everyone enjoys enthusiasm about their achievements. We
all go to work, do our jobs because we get paid and know
what's expected of us. But we also know how nice it feels
when our efforts are noticed and appreciated with a simple
"Thanks for doing a great job." It's about acknowledging
that while the work would have been done anyway, the
recognition makes it all the more rewarding.

So, here we have the roadmap for a solution-focused
session. While it almost never unfolds as described in my
experience, it does help us understand what we are aiming
for in therapy.
The great news is that you're not a therapist; you are a
youth worker, whose job is entirely different. In terms of
youth crises, you will be the first responder, requiring a
distinct set of skills that bear huge similarities to those of
the final carer. I often draw an analogy between the
paramedic and the surgeon. They possess similar skills and
tools, but when you're lying by the side of the road, you
want a paramedic.
In the case of your young people, there will be numerous
support services available, yet at the moment of crisis,
there will be you. This presents us with an exciting
opportunity to employ our solution-focused tools and
deliver our clients in excellent condition to the longer-term
'Problem Solvers’.

4 - The Miracle Question
At some point early in our meeting, we would ask
the miracle question.
"If you were to leave here today, go home and go
to bed, and while you were sleeping a miracle
happens, and the reason we are here today goes
away. But you couldn't know because you were
sleeping. As you go through your day, what
would tell you things were different?"

In the video, we discussed how the question works and the
incredible power it holds. To the uninitiated, it can seem
strange and unnatural, but with practice, it flows freely. For
most frontline workers, this version is unlikely to work in
casual conversation.
In the training and the following exercise, we were able to
break down the fabric of the question and give trainees a
chance to design their own version.
What is it saying?
In its simplest form, it's an opportunity to design an
imagined future without the issue that's bothering them. It
asks, how do you see the solution, what will be different?
When adding deeper questioning, it lifts the mood and
tone, and creates an imagined future. It also enables the
client to leapfrog any obstacles that might be perceived and
clear them from the conversation. We spoke about the first
few lines of the answer, how often the entire key to a
solution can lie there.
What if we get silly or unrealistic answers?

In truth, this has never happened with thousands of clients;
it's as if it's always taken in context, however. There are
some textbook responses that can work well if you're stuck.
"I don’t know?" - "Imagine if you did, what then?"
"I'd be rich." - We could have some banter with this; we could
also peel back the layers until we reached a broader context
like, not having the job they hate or being home with the kids.
"I'd be dead." - "That's not possible because you woke up."
Certain organizations have policies around this type of
response, but that will need to be applied separately.
Remember, the miracle question is about imagination and not
fantasy. In most cases, the client will see it in that context.
In the experience in training, we have the opportunity to
think about our own miracle question based on the type of
work we do. We have already discussed how the scenarios
and problems tend to be relatively predictable.

5 - Exceptions
The principle of exceptions is a core concept in
Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT), which
focuses on identifying and exploring times when
the client's problem does not occur or is less severe.
This idea suggests;
“Since no one is perfect, none of us can have a
perfect problem.”
The faults or the times when we are not having very good
problems are what we call exceptions.

This principle naturally follows the miracle question, as the
miracle answer represents the ideal outcome when the
problem no longer exists.
In this context, we might ask,
"In recent times, when were you closest to that 10 out of 10
day? Why was this the case? Why was the problem pushed
away, and your current problem doesn't seem as perfect?”
Understanding or observing these exceptions can provide
valuable insights into potential solutions and strategies that
the client has already successfully employed, even if
unconsciously.
Key Aspects of the Exceptions Principle:
Identification of Exceptions:
The therapist asks the client to recall specific instances
when the expected problem did not occur or was
significantly less impactful. This process shifts the focus
from what is going wrong to what is going right, reinforcing
the client's capacity to effect change. For example, there

might be times when an alcoholic drinks less than usual,
for whatever reason.
Detailed Exploration:
Once an exception is identified, the therapist can delve into
the details with the client to understand the context,
behaviors, thoughts, and emotions that contributed to the
different outcome. This aids in identifying effective
elements that can be replicated or expanded upon.
Amplification:
By focusing on these positive exceptions, SFBT amplifies
the client's awareness of their own resources and strengths.
It reinforces the belief that the client has the capability to
change their situation, even if these changes occur in
fleeting instances.
Future-oriented:
Exceptions are not just about understanding past
successes; they also involve applying these insights to
future scenarios. Therapists can encourage clients to
imagine how they can use similar strategies in upcoming
situations, fostering a sense of empowerment.

Resource Activation:
The exceptions principle is based on the premise that
clients possess the necessary resources to solve their
problems. By drawing attention to these resources,
therapists can motivate clients towards solution-building.
Implementation in Therapy:
In practice, therapists might use specific questions to
uncover exceptions, such as:
"Can you think of a time when this problem was not present,
or was less of a problem for you?"
"What was different about that time?"
"What did you do that helped make that situation better?"
Through these inquiries, the principle of exceptions helps
clients recognize their ability to create change, encourages
a positive stance towards problem-solving, and builds
confidence in their capacity to cope with and overcome
challenges.

In essence, we are searching for faults in the problem, the
cracks in their self-written story, which gives them a
foothold towards a solution.

6 - Scaling Questions
Scaling questions ask a client to answer a question on
a scale of one to ten. It's a common practice we may
all be familiar with. Often a doctor will use this to
assess the scale of pain, one being mild and ten being
excruciating.
Scaling questions are simple in principle and
understanding but can be used in various ways.
To agree or set a benchmark to work from:
"If the miracle day is ten, then where are you now?"

"When were you recently closest to the ten, what number was
that?"
"What would move you up the scale by a 1/4?"
To assess our progress:
"We spoke about a seven being the point where we might not
need to see each other, how much closer are we now?"
"How would you rate our progress considering we started at
four?"
To make the issue psychologically smaller:
"So you are at a five now and you believe we need not meet
again once we reach a seven?"
To psychologically manipulate the size of the problem:
This entails shifting the scale upwards or downwards
dependent on how we would like the scale to go.
Example:
"One being okay and ten being very good."
Versus
"One being okay and ten being absolutely amazing."

In the above example, it's likely easier to score lower in
question one. Its scale is narrower.
In question two, the scale is broader and biased towards
the higher level.
Scaling questions deservedly occupy a place of their own in
any solution-focused training. In the next section, we
delved into questioning techniques overall.

7 - Questions, Questions
"The answers you get depend on the questions
you ask." — Thomas S. Kuhn
If we are to play the role of curious inquisitor, allowing
the client to be the expert in the room, then questions,
questions, questions are everything. Only through
questioning the client, inquiring from every angle, will we
enable them to find the solution that neither of us are able
to see.
Questions fall into numerous categories, but these
categories are of little importance to us. What is of

importance is that we are aware these types of questions
exist and how we are using them.
MEMORY NOTE: THE FBI NEGOTIATOR STORY.
Closed questions
These will tend to box people in and produce a yes or no
answer. There’s no room for explanation or opening up the
subject matter. It’s important to understand where these
questions might take you, is it somewhere best avoided?
Open questions
These demand more of an opinion or explanation.
"How do you feel about the training methods we have
employed?"
"Would you be willing to tell me more about X, Y, Z?"
Leading Questions
These are questions that encourage a particular answer.
These types of questions can be manipulative. Often used
in court cases by clever lawyers.

Closed question: "Did you burgle the home of Mr. Johnson?"
Answer: "No."
Leading question: "Isn’t it true that on the evening of the 24th,
instead of being home as you claimed, you were in fact
committing the act of burglary at the home of Mr. Johnson?"
As the curious inquisitor, our line of questioning will tend
to be genuine honest curiosity rather than leading a client
in any direction.
No Questions:
This doesn’t often come up as a question technique but it is
one. Silence is a difficult thing to achieve, to allow the client
time to fill the gap. A technique often used by journalists to
encourage more disclosure. When silence is in the air, it’s
almost instinctive to want to fill it.
Exception questions
These seek the exception within the question.
"Can you tell me more about last week when you coped so
well?”
"I'd be very interested to hear how well you did last week?”

Coping questions;
Asking the client or inquiring about how they have
maintained the situation, how it didn’t get worse.
"How have you coped so well up to now?"
"You seem to have developed a way of dealing with the
situation, tell me how that works for you?"
Indirect questions;
Indirect questions are embedded in statements although
they demand an answer.
"I wonder if I might be helping you more than I think?"
"It probably says a lot about your character, don’t you agree?”
Orientation questions;
Used to assess where you are in the process, enabling
everyone to understand whether progress is being made. In
conjunction with or including scaling questions.
"Would you agree that the training is helping your
understanding of the model?"
“Looking at the scale we made earlier, you said you were a 5,
would you say we have moved forward?”
Solution questions;

Designed to push the conversation forward. They avoid
problems and negatives, even though they might address
those problems. They will avoid any kind of problem
confirmation or setting off down that road.
"If this training was a perfect fit, what would you like to
achieve in our training?"
"How would succeeding look to you?"
"Who would you normally find support from?"
To repeat myself the categories are not exhaustive, and
they are of no relevance to solution-focused workers.
The solution-focused worker is aware of two things:
Are you genuinely curious about the issue and the client's life
at all times without leading the client to your solution?
Are we maintaining the conversation in a solution-focused and
positive way?

8 - Normalising
In many instances, it's common for troubled people to
assume that they are the only ones who feel the way
they do, that they are alone with their problem. It's
psychologically powerful to realize this might not be the
case.
To be told that your particular issue is, in fact, relatively
common, normalizing helps us do this. We are able to offer
reassurance that this issue is commonplace. We may have
added credibility by our role and the confidence our client
has in us and our professionalism.

You will remember the examples in the training video,
perhaps the young lady who was constantly and
inappropriately crying. The use of normalizing in itself was
a key component in finding a solution. You'll remember
how she came for a solution and yet her conclusion was
that she didn't need one after all.
Normalizing has a positive side too; it is used by advertisers
and marketers to provide social proof. If everyone else is
doing it, then perhaps it's a good idea for us to do it.
'40% of social care organizations use the Action
Factory for their training needs.’
'Eight out of ten cats prefer Whiskas.’
'The multi-million selling book by Michael
Dawson.’
Refer to the exercises to see how we managed to normalize
some typical issues that you may come across in your
professional and personal life.

9 - Reframing
Reframing allows us to place the issue into a
different context for the client. We do this by
changing the words we repeat back to the client
or reframing the explanation.
MEMORY PROMPTS FROM TRAINING INCLUDE
MUHAMMAD ALI ON A PLANE AND THE BANK
ROBBERY.
Reframing is the art of taking a situation and reinterpreting
it in a more positive light for the client. In some cases, the

client's idea of their situation is fixed and rigid because of
the way they have interpreted it over a long period.
It can be helpful to hear from a professional who may not
see it quite the same way you do.
It's important to say that we have no need to get the client
to agree with our interpretation. In most instances, I would
simply reframe the situation and move on.
Example:
"I'm so bad as a parent, always screaming and shouting at
them for the slightest thing."
"It sounds like you have very high expectations of your
children. Are there times when you're a little more likely to let
things go by?”
"We spend all day every day arguing."
"Reaching agreement on everything can be difficult for couples
sometimes.”
I have also found that switching words and repeating
statements can be useful.

"I'm very depressed at the moment, this week has been the
worst ever."
"It sounds like you’ve been quite low recently. What’s been
better before this week?”
Making a different interpretation can be super helpful for
the client. The real skill is when we might register a change
in demeanor from our client. They have no need to say but
certainly, we can see they have taken the message on
board.
They say, depressed. You say, low.
They say, anger. You say, overexcited.
We also use expressions:
"I am such a crap parent." The response might be, "Why do
you think you have such high expectations of yourself?"
or
"You seem to set yourself very high standards."
"I constantly lose my rag with the kids."
The response might be,
"In what kind of situations do you find you're quite animated."

As the solution-focused worker, we may need to think
about our responses. There's no deceit involved.
Remember the story I told in training about the guy who
had given his precious Manchester United montage to his
pub only to find they had sold it. I had immediately
responded with a reframe to say how it might be a good
thing that it was now with someone who really cared about
it.
This worked so well with him; this was not a client but a
general conversation.
In the training and exercises, you will have the opportunity
to practice reframing a number of general situations.
Asking yourself:
What could be good about this?
By context:
"That sounds challenging, and you coped very well. Tell me
how you did that?"
By interpretation:

"Under the circumstances, your behavior might be
understandable. What would you do differently next time?"
By meaning:
"I’m interested you say that about yourself. Being a little
obsessive is attributed to lots of high achievers."

10 - Client Feedback
As discussed in the previous section, there may
well be an opportunity to give feedback.
Firstly, we would confirm our understanding of the
situation:
"During our last chat, I understood that what was troubling
you was…"
Then we lay out the task and ask,

"What's better?”
The client can then focus on what has been positive for
them. In our training, we often have time to practice
principles between sessions.
"So, who wants to tell me what’s been better since we were last
together?”
We then use the acronym E.A.R.S.
Elicit;
"So you felt more positive with that client, really. Tell me more
about that. How did that feel for you? Do you think the client
noticed?"
Amplify;
"That’s amazing progress in such a short time. To take what
you learned in a single week is pretty incredible. I had so much
confidence in this group, and don’t you agree it’s so good to

take a model and use it straight out of the box. That’s just
incredible."
Repeat
"So you met the client, and you were more positive. Tell me
more."
Start again.
"Start at the beginning, run me through it again. It sounds
amazing. So you got to work, okay, and then what…"
This method of feedback focuses on positive
reinforcement, encouraging the client or trainee to reflect
on and articulate their progress, thus reinforcing the
behaviors and techniques that have led to improvements. It
also serves to build confidence and motivation by
acknowledging and celebrating successes, no matter how
small, as steps toward achieving their goals.

11 - Getting Unstuck
It’s true that some cases will feel like you are getting
nowhere, as if you are constantly running up against
dead ends and can't seem to make progress. You might
start to ask yourself if the issue lies with you. When I ask
myself that question, the answer is usually yes, but this is
perfectly natural and happens to everyone at some point.
Taking some time away from the case and running through
the following steps may help you to come unstuck.

1. Remember, the client is the expert of their own life.
2. Do you know how they feel about the sessions, and
what helps and what doesn’t?
3. Try confirming with the client what they see as the issue
and what you see as the issue.
4. Have you become preoccupied with your own idea of a
solution, which is different from what the client wants?
5. Are these ideas the same?
6. Likewise, with the goals, are they consistent with the
client's mindset?
7. Are you sure you know who the client is? Is it him or his
wife/children, etc.?
8. If so, you may have to change your approach so the
client can work out his motivation, if he has any.
9. Are the goals and objectives clear and well defined, and
could you "put them in a wheelbarrow"? If they are too

vague, then it's hard to evaluate progress for you and
the client.
10. Have you become emotionally involved in the case, and
has this affected your judgment or your discipline in the
use of the method?
11. Could you be having problems ending the relationship
and allowing the client to move on?
12. Have you become dependent on the client, or vice
versa?
13. Are there hidden costs to change that you or the client
have not considered?
14. Is there a positive relationship between you and the
client?
15. Have you considered doing something different? This
could include the time you meet, the location, the
participants involved.
16. Could a different therapeutic model be more useful?

17. How about getting other workers involved or even a
discussion with colleagues?
18. What about a fresh approach from a different therapist?
19. Change yourself by passing the case to someone else,
someone different than you who will develop a different
dynamic.
Consider all or any of the above if you ever feel your case is
running up a dead end. Sometimes, a fresh perspective or a
slight adjustment in approach can make all the difference in
moving forward.

12 - Frequently asked questions
Here are some of the most frequently asked
questions about solution focused brief therapy
and most importantly some of the most common
objections. This is where we can hopefully provide
satisfactory answers to your on-line questions. If you have
points to make or questions to ask after you have had a
chance to digest the information then please email them in
for addition in future publications.
info@theactionfactory.com

How successful is brief therapy and what evidence do
you have that it works?
The use of the term brief therapy to describe an
intervention that is shorter than others can be deceiving.
There are studies to suggest that a lot of other models are
effective in a similar number of sessions. However there
have been a great number of outcome studies and most
show a success rate of between 65 and 85%. A quick browse
on the internet can produce endless studies which clarify
its success. Any of our students who do follow up refresher
training with us will also provide strong anecdotal evidence
that the method is effective and deserves its reputation.
How would you handle an impossible answer to the
miracle question such as “I would win the lottery or
my father would still be alive”?
In my practical experience within a therapeutic setting this
has never happened so I do not have a lot of practical
experience in it. However all the training manuals and
books claim that if it does then it would still be about

probing that answer to see what that would actually mean
and possibly reframing the situation too. First of all are we
making the assumption that by definition all lottery
winners will be exempt from any of life's ups and downs
such as feeling low etc? Secondly by probing we may get to
the real need. By asking as a child would why? Why? Why?
It may be that they would simply be able to spend more
time with the kids because they would not need to work.
We still have to probe in the usual way to find out what this
would mean to them. In reality you will find it simply does
not happen because of the context and the arena the
question is asked in.
What are the main principles of your work in solution
focused brief therapy?
The model is completely client led and therefore by
definition non-damaging. By using this model it’s
impossible to make things worse for the client. It crosses all
barriers of race and culture because it works within the
client’s mindset. If it works do more, if it doesn’t then don’t
and if it ain’t broke don't fix it. The client is the expert of
their own lives and so they can teach us and help

themselves to find a solution. Solution focused therapy is
also forward thinking and positive.
“I had a terrible childhood, but once is enough”
Richard Bandler
The only thing we can all do is do the best we can with the
cards we are dealt, we can affect the future but not the
past.
The title of this training session has been, “The brief
therapy toolkit” because this therapeutic input is so
strongly based on the power of the tools we use.
What would you expect a referrer to say to a client who
was unenthusiastic about coming to your service?
The model we use is non-judgmental and you are not going
to be told what to do. All clients would be welcome to come
and chat about the service as apposed to a chat about
them. They would then be welcome to come back at any
time. If it’s not for them then that is still fine. We would
occasionally have a client who is there at the request of
someone else. This would lead us to ask what the client

thinks the referrer would like to see change. This may be a
judge or social worker.
What qualifies you to tell people how to run their lives?
That is just the point, this model will not tell anyone to do
anything. It enables the client to have the opportunity to
write his own script. The therapist will be there to maybe
offer alternative endings to that story and allow the client to
express himself or herself. Once the author has decided on
one of those endings then it is still his story. The beauty of
this model is that it is non-intrusive.
Why do you think this method is so different from
other methods of therapy?
Some clients will not know why it is different or why they
enjoy these sessions more. Maybe it is refreshing to feel
empowered to control their own lives and feel that they can
make change happen. I did some work with a young man
who had been self-harming for many years. He had been to
many counsellors and his mother was also a counsellor. He

gave some very positive feedback after our work and I
asked him why he felt I had been helpful.
He said it was not what he had expected because;
“All everyone else ever does is tell me to stop self
harming and you didn’t.”
There is also strong evidence to suggest that reliving past
traumatic experiences can be just as traumatic and the
human mind has trouble differentiating between
experience and imagined experience. We also relive the
trauma and become physiologically distressed. You will
remember the training when you were asked to discuss and
think about the last argument you had. The feelings of
anger and tension will rise up again. In the same respect we
feel in control and relaxed when we can visualise a brighter
future. In the same way some therapeutic techniques use
this to their advantage such as positive self-talk and
meditative relaxation.
“You can’t see where your going if you keep
looking back.”

How can you possibly help people who have spent
years in therapy in so short a time?
It’s not exclusive but it has happened. The simple answer is
by doing something different and by being willing to get on
the client’s bus without trying to drive it.
What do you do with a family that has no positives to
work with?
That is not possible. In fact the more extreme the problem
then the more positives there will be. I am sure people
remember the advert for the police force where famous
achievers sit in a chair and say;
“I just couldn’t do that.”
That’s what its like for the therapist who may be asked for
help from a person who is able to bring up a family of six
on benefits with an alcoholic husband and the threat of
eviction and says she cannot cope.
I couldn’t do that, how have you? We have to be inquisitive
and find the person’s strengths and talents that they didn’t
recognise were there.

How can you work with a client who is not willing to
co-operate or cannot see his own problems when
everyone else can?
If it ain’t broke don’t fix it. Some things that appear as
major issues for one professional may just be everyday life
for the client. However, it would be worth asking why the
client is here assuming he is not bound and gagged and
delivered like a parcel. If he had to attend then where
would he have to be before his social worker or YOT worker
feels he does not have to attend again.
In a world of the free will there must be some motivation to
do everything even if it is something you don’t want to do.
How do you know when your work with a client is
finished?
The client will be the judge of when they no longer feel the
need to attend the sessions. However, the therapist is
constantly pushing the client away anyway. The average
time period is six sessions not six weeks. The most
productive has shown to be 3 to 5 sessions.

13 - What my clients say
Over the years I have worked with many different
organisations including local authorities, crisis
intervention teams and residential carers.
We get so many positive comments about the training,
which we see as a compliment to the model, as well as the
training. Thank you all very much for working with us and
providing your feedback.
"Feeling I will do my job better.”

"For quite a complicated subject I feel it was delivered in a way
that was clear to understand and for us as workers to deliver.”
"The training will be extremely helpful in my work.”
"A very enjoyable program, well presented and interesting.”
"Made me re-evaluate my own way of working.”
"Will be more optimistic and less critical when working.”

14 - About Michael
Michael Dawson founded the Action Factory in
1995. He has experienced both sides of the UK
care system, having spent most of his
childhood in care before going on to become a successful
businessman.
Inevitably, there came a time when he wanted more and
decided to go back to the grassroots level and work with
young people. His early career spanned most forms of
youth work but was shaped by an intense interest in the
profession and three key roles.

FIT
He was a founding member of the Family Intervention
Team, which served as a gatekeeper to the care system. It
was founded on the principle of keeping children at home
rather than allowing them into local authority care. Using
solution-focused therapy, the service showed successful
outcomes in over 85% of cases.
12 Fat Ladies
12 Fat Ladies was a pilot project set up by the National
Health Service to try a multi-service approach with a group
of clinically obese clients. Michael managed the mental
health side of the project, which resulted in his book, 12 Fat
Ladies.
YAT
As part of the mental health service, the project was
designed to catch young people who were likely to slip
through the mental health net, resulting in longer-term
issues. Michael worked across East Manchester, embedded

within most youth services. It was here that he developed
the early version of the Solutions Toolkit, a framework for
working with young people.
Michael is trained and skilled in a number of therapeutic
disciplines, including Solution Focused Brief Therapy,
Neurolinguistic Programming, and clinical hypnosis.
He is the author of a number of fictional books, plays, and
films, as well as his non-fiction work based around the
process of change in young people.
He created 'The Solution Focused Toolkit' as a framework
for youth work teams. It is an amalgamation of his decades
of experience in the youth work industry and is a principlebased
team course that is delivered online.
In his own words, it is designed to be absorbed rather than
learned.
To try out the free version of the course for your youth
work team, simply visit www.theactionfactory.com.