Deck 12: Solution-Focused Therapy

Question 1

Early in the development of solution focused therapy, all clients were given the same assignment, ________, in which clients are asked to observe what happens in their life/relationships that they want to continue.

A) re-storying task
B) invariant prescription
C) family ritual
D) formula first-session task

Answer 1

formula first-session task

Question 2

The goal-setting process in solution-focused therapy emphasizes

A) defining problems concretely
B) defining simple problems
C) not what clients want to stop doing but what they want to start doing
D) exceptions

Answer 2

not what clients want to stop doing but what they want to start doing

Question 3

This question, used by solution focused therapists, is intended to circumvent clients' global and unremitting perceptions of the problems and directs their attention to times in the past or present when they didn't have the problem.

A) exception question
B) miracle question
C) scaling question
D) none of these choices

Answer 3

exception question

Question 4

Solution-focused therapists engage in problem talk

A) long enough to make clients feel understood
B) not at all
C) long enough to define specific problems to be resolved
D) as long as clients want to

Question 5

Compliments are an example of

A) empathy
B) positive reinforcement
C) negative reinforcement
D) alliance building

Question 6

Solution-focused therapy focuses primarily on

A) cognition
B) reinforcement history
C) linguistics
D) behavior

Question 7

Steve de Shazer's term for someone who isn't willing to work at changing is

A) customer
B) client
C) patient
D) complainant

Question 8

Solution-focused therapy draws heavily on

A) systems theory
B) constructivism
C) social constructionism
D) social learning theory

Question 9

Solution-focused therapists use "scaling questions" to

A) quantify outcomes
B) evaluate the success of sessions
C) break change into small steps
D) compare clients

Question 10

Solution-focused therapy was adapted from

A) narrative therapy
B) narrative solutions therapy
C) emotionally focused therapy
D) the MRI model

Question 11

List and describe three types of questions used in solution-focused therapy. Give an example of each. According to solution-focused theory, discuss how each facilitates client improvement.

Question 12

What types of clients and client problems are best suited for solution-focused therapy and the MRI model of treatment? Are these approaches effective only with high functioning clients, or can they be used effectively to treat more serious problems (e.g., substance abuse, sexual abuse, personality disorders, or severe mental illness)?

Question 13

How does the therapist's role differ in a variety of different approaches (name or have students pick one or two) versus solution-focused therapy?

Question 14

Does solution-oriented therapy ignore people's pain (as some critics of the approach suggest) or does it facilitate clients' positive experiences, which in turn empower them to change what is painful in their lives?