SFBT 2.0: The Next Generation of Solution-Focused Brief Therapy Has Already Arrived

Abstract

This paper seeks to consolidate developments in Solution Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) over the past decade. I conclude that we have already seen the arrival of a kind of new form of SFBT, focused firmly on descriptions and even simpler in form that the original SFBT developed by Steve de Shazer, Insoo Kim Berg and colleagues. This new form is still definitely SFBT in terms of the priorities and focus of the original progenitors, but it has also left behind many elements which were inherited during the initial development from the previous family therapy and brief therapy traditions. The name ‘SFBT 2.0’ is proposed, to help prevent confusion with earlier forms while maintaining that this is not a new therapy but an important evolution of existing practice.