Denver Center for Solution-Focused Brief Therapy

08/26/2025

So often clients focus solely on being happy as their initial goal. I encourage solution-focused learners to instead invite the client to think in terms of a broader vision, since emotions, while important, are fleeting. As humans, our behaviors are expressions of our ability to successfully manage these more fluid emotional states.

08/25/2025

We are so much more than others assume!

08/14/2025

I often hear professionals say things about Solution-Focused Brief Therapy that give me pause. One of the most recent was the idea that the fundamental concept behind the model, the “not-knowing-stance,” was incompatible with social justice, being an ally, or might even have the potential to cause harm. I was initially shocked by the idea.

Unfortunately, there is a misperception that the not-knowing-stance is about turning off our brains as professionals and blindly following the client, even down an unrealistic or harmful path. This could not be further from the truth. In reality, the not-knowing- stance is one of great respect. It’s about lowering the power differential between client and professional while ensuring that each remains solidly in their area of expertise.

The professional is to step into the client’s world view and to ask questions that turn on the client’s brain. . . to get them to think in ways that are holistic about all aspects of their reality (including challenging concepts such as social injustice, drug cravings, making mistakes) . . . and how they will make decisions that help create the life they want despite these expected realities. Part of this conversation includes relationship questions. . . how others would be supporting them in this future place. Who would be their allies, what would “helping” or being an ally mean, etc. And yes. . . that can include us as the professional if the client desires.

In Solution-Focused practice we don’t set our compassion at the door. Instead, we step fully into it. We call out reality in all its ugliness at times, and explore with the client how they were successful in this future place despite it. The presupposition within our questions is not to deny reality or our responsibility as humans to help make the world a better place, but it is that the client’s voice is ultimately the one that matters in the conversation. It is their life. Our job is to turn on their brain and stand beside them shoulder to shoulder.

08/06/2025

I have mentioned Loretta J. Ross before on this page because of her revolutionary work as a social justice activist who works and thinks in a Solution-Focused way. I love her compassion for people and her focus on truly creating lasting change by “calling people in.”

One of my favorite quotes from one of her talks is from the Reverend C.T. Vivian who was an aide to Dr. Martin Luther King. C. T. said, “When you ask people to give up hate, then you need to be there for them when they do.” She goes on to say that calling someone out is “inviting them to a fight,” but calling them in is “inviting them into a conversation.” She goes on to explain there is even a third choice . . . calling on people.

Here’s the link if you’d like to learn more. . .

https://www.ted.com/talks/loretta_j_ross_don_t_call_people_out_call_them_in/up-next

08/04/2025

07/29/2025

And just like that, the 16th annual Solution-Focused Brief Therapy Denver Summer Intensive is complete. 51 professionals attended from 19 states and 5 countries for 12 days of learning. I’m honored to have spent time getting to learn together with such an amazing group!

Save the date to join us in 2026. We will meet in person next July 13-17 and online July 20-24 and 27-28.

07/19/2025

This past week, we completed the in-person portion of our annual Summer Intensive. Next week we begin the online days The Summer Intensive is one of my favorite events, as people from around the world come together to explore Solution-Focused Practice more in-depth in a live, small group format. This year has been no exception.

One of the themes that kept coming up this past week was the importance of setting aside everything. . . the problem, our assumptions, even the actual interventions themselves . . . and just be with the amazing human being in front of us. This is the heart of the model.

07/18/2025

Solution-Focused Challenge!

I once had a staff member on my team, who really struggled with the idea of not having a clear agenda and plan when walking into a client session. I could see the anxiety begin to form each time I gently challenged his idea that a pre-set topic or course of action for his group or session was truly in line with Solution-Focused Thinking. There can be comfort with knowing what to do or what to say. Setting this aside requires trust in one’s own skill set and in the process.

With time and coaching, he learned to go into sessions with just a clear understanding of how to use Solution-Focused Practice, a clipboard with blank paper, and pens. Entering the sessions with these basic tools allowed him to feel prepared, and yet the blank paper symbolized that “not knowing stance” that is at the heart of Solution-Focused Practice.

We truly have no idea what will be helpful to the client, what direction the client wants to go, or what to ask until we sit down each time. As Steve de Shazer famously used to say, “Trust the process.”

07/14/2025

This is the Solution-Focused stance. We never know how long we have. We just have this moment to make a difference.

07/12/2025

A central concept of Solution-Focused Practice is that small steps lead to big changes. Such an important idea. However, this fact is in everyday life in ways you might not have noticed. For example, did you know that if a pilot takes off from Los Angeles headed for Washington DC and is only 3.5 degrees off, they will land in New York instead? Small changes matter.

06/26/2025

Today we bury my father. In truth, he died emotionally years ago and welcomed death. Having a meaningful relationship with him was not possible without losing myself. It was always a complicated relationship, and his death leaves me with mixed emotions. Throughout my life my family left me wishing for what I saw in others and knew mine could never offer. My father was a catalyst for me becoming a therapist.

We don’t get to choose our parents, and life is about learning how to make the most of what we are given. It’s about being able to look back and be proud of how we handled our circumstances. My recent time with my father has given me the opportunity to learn to better accept people for who they are. Not everyone wants or can change. Some people simply chose to remain stuck in the past. That is their right. While these people are rarely seen in a therapist’s office, this is a hard but crucial reminder.

Being Solution-Focused means learning to accept that people have a right to decisions they make even when we think they can or should do better. Being Solution-Focused isn’t about dreaming for what we wish, but instead exploring how we create a good life despite our circumstances; even when those aren’t what is ideal, fair or even just.

Sometimes the focus simply has to switch to acceptance of what is and moving forward. There’s a peace that comes from this.