For more than thirty years I have been counseling people as either, in the beginning, a ministerial graduate student or during my career as a minister in the Christian faith.  So, naturally, people have correctly assumed that I was a Christian.  More specifically, they usually assumed, correctly again, that I was a Christian counselor within the churches of Christ.  With those assumptions they knew that we would agree on many things, including many doctrinal issues that were unique to our particular branch of a specific religious movement in America known as the Restoration Movement.

Having been in private practice for a couple of years now whether or not I am a Christian Marriage and Family Therapist seems to have taken on a new meaning that is fascinating.  Some correctly assume that I am in favor of strong marriages and families as the means for raising strong children from a Christian perspective.   At the same time, most understand that, morally and ethically, I am bound to respect the values of the clients that I see and their individual faith systems.

Much more will be written on this topic.  Today, the important point is that the fact that I am a Christian means certain things across belief systems.  These values are important to me and underlie every aspect of my work with people:

• Honesty: What good is therapy if we cannot be honest with each other?  Learning to be honest and transparent is an important ingredient to good communication and strong, working relationships.
•  Integrity: Related to honesty is the intention of the therapist to be a person of his or her word.  Scheming and deceptive practices do not make sense when we are working to strengthen trust and confidence in one another.
• Respect: Therapy is strategic, solution-focused and, when possible, biased towards brevity.  The time and energy it takes to solve problems and move on is too precious to use for anything other than working to accomplish the goals of the client and to help them move on with life.

The list will go on over time as I update this article from time to time but the point I wish to make is that because I am a Christian I accept people where they are in life, encourage them to overcome obstacles, manage  transitions and achieve their potential as they define their obstacles, transitions and potential.

What is Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT)?

As the name suggests, it is about being brief and focusing on solutions, rather than on problems. We learned a long time ago that when there is a problem, many professionals spend a great deal of time thinking, talking, and analyzing the problems, while the suffering goes on. It occurred to a team of mental health professionals at the Brief Family Therapy Center that so much time and energy, as well as many resources, are spent on talking about problems, rather than thinking about what might help us to get to solutions that would bring on realistic, reasonable relief as quickly as possible.

We discovered that problems do not happen all the time. Even the most chronic problems have periods or times when the difficulties do not occur or are less intense. By studying these times when problems are less severe or even absent, we discovered that people do many positive things that they are not fully aware of. By bringing these small successes into their awareness and repeating the successful things they do when the problem is less severe, people improve their lives and become more confident about themselves.

And, of course, there is nothing like experiencing small successes to help a person become more hopeful about themselves and their life. When they are more hopeful, they become more interested in creating a better life for themselves and their families. They become more hopeful about their future and want to achieve more.

Because these solutions appear occasionally and are already within the person, repeating these successful behaviors is easier than learning a whole new set of solutions that may have worked for someone else. Thus, the brief part was born. Since it takes less effort, people can readily become more eager to repeat the successful behaviors and make further changes.

Solution-Focused Brief Therapy has taken almost 30 years to develop into what it is today. It is simple to learn, but difficult to practice because our old learning gets in the way. The model continues to evolve and change. It is increasingly taken out of the therapy or counseling room and applied in a wide variety of settings where people want to get along or work together.

About Solution-Focused Brief Therapy

by Insoo Kim Berg

The Marriage and Family Therapy mission of Shoreline Counselor, LLC is to actively promote  and encourage healthy marriages and families in western Michigan and beyond by helping them overcome obstacles, manage transitions, and reach their potential.

The goal of Shoreline Counselor, LLC is to lead the way in quality, professional Marriage and Family Therapy services. The philosophy of business of Shoreline Counselor, LLC is to positively impact the lives of people by promoting activities and practices that will encourage healthy marriage and family relationships by repairing the damage, restoring relationships and helping them thrive.

Marriage and Family Therapy is a core mental health discipline that is a cost-effective, short-term, and results-oriented form of treatment.  It is based upon the research and theory that problems are best diagnosed and treated in the context of marriages and families.  While therapy is conducted predominantly with individuals, special training in family systems and psychotherapy views a client’s symptoms and interaction patterns within their existing environment.

Shoreline Counselor, LLC uniquely provides licensed, professional Marriage and Family Therapy that is owned and operated by a Clinical Member of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy.  As the owner and therapist, Stephen Pylkas specializes in helping people when they are struggling with decisions about, for example, whether or not to divorce, changing careers, caring for aging parents, and agreeing about parenting strategies.  Helping families address problems with children and adolescents, in-laws, finances and communication skills are the most common challenges.