Solution-focused therapy / SFB-A18-3
Keeping the Helpful Difference — Clinician dialogue
Guide a collaborative conversation about keeping the helpful difference while checking fit and participant choice.
15 minutes · Clinician script · Mental health professionals
Fictional example: Devin's task-starting routine depends on written instructions arriving on time.
Use within your training and assessment of readiness. Maintenance can include anticipating constraints and seeking support.
Invite and obtain permission
Offer: "Would it be useful to explore keeping the helpful difference using an ordinary or fictional example? We can adapt it, observe, or stop." Ask what the person wants from the conversation.
Elicit before teaching
Ask: "How does this show up, if at all, in your own words?" Offer this idea tentatively: Maintenance can include anticipating constraints and seeking support. Ask what fits and what does not.
Guide the task
Name a helpful change, the conditions that sustain it, and an early sign that adjustment is needed. Ask for permission before giving an example. Use this fictional illustration if useful: Devin's task-starting routine depends on written instructions arriving on time.
Reflect and check accuracy
Reflect only what was offered: "I heard you describe ___. What did I miss?" Ask: What support makes this change sustainable? Avoid assigning motives or interpreting silence as agreement.
Respond to a mismatch
If the person rejects the frame, say: "Thank you for correcting it. What would be more useful?" Return to their language or choose a different approach.
Close with agency
Ask which observation, question, or support request the person wants to keep. Confirm a manageable ending and appropriate follow-up; do not turn a tentative possibility into a homework obligation.
Prompts for this resource
- Readiness, permission, cultural context, and access needs to check:
- What support makes this change sustainable?
- What would tell me to adapt, stop, or seek supervision?
Conceptual background
What is Solution-Focused Therapy? — Solution-Focused Therapy Institute
Background on the approach only. Original exercises and wording are by More Than Therapy with AI assistance; the source does not validate or endorse these materials.