Solution-Focused Brief Therapy

Help clients move forward - by focusing on what’s already working.

About the course

Start date
Coming soon
Time
12 months access
Who this course is for
For Mental Health & Health Professionals, Coaches

Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) is a strengths-based, future-oriented therapy that supports meaningful change—often in settings where time is limited. Rather than positioning the therapist as the expert on the problem, SFBT centers the client as the expert on their life—making therapy more hopeful, efficient, and action-oriented.

This approach is especially useful when:

  • Clients feel stuck, overwhelmed, or demoralized

  • Time is limited, as in schools, healthcare, or brief intervention settings

  • Clients are mandated, disengaged, or not well-suited to traditional therapy

  • You need a flexible model that works across cultures, systems, and modalities

SFBT is widely used and effective across diverse settings, including schools, community mental health, behavioral health, private practice, and government services such as child protection and welfare settings.

In this self-paced course, you’ll gain the structure, techniques, and practical guidance to use SFBT confidently with individuals, families, adolescents, couples, and mandated clients.

Solution-Focused Brief Therapy
Coming soon

Register your interest to receive an exclusive discount when this course launches

Learn From Leading Experts in SFBT

You’ll be learning from Dr. Johnny Kim and Dr. Cynthia Franklin—the two most widely published authors in the field of SFBT and internationally recognized for their contributions to both research and practice.

  • Johnny Kim, PhD, LCSW is a professor at the University of Denver and a leading educator in SFBT. He has worked extensively with youth, schools, and families and is a key contributor to the latest SFBT treatment manual.

  • Cynthia Franklin, PhD, LCSW is a professor at The University of Texas at Austin and author of hundreds of studies on SFBT. Her work has shaped the application of SFBT in integrated care, education, and mental health systems, and she has contributed to recent advances in applying SFBT with neurodiverse clients, including autistic adults.

Together, they bring deep expertise, real-world experience, and a strong commitment to evidence-based practice—offering you clear guidance grounded in decades of clinical application and research.

Johnny Kim & Cynthia Franklin- Solution Focused Therapy
Using SFBT in Clinical Practice

This course shows you how to use a focused, collaborative approach that shifts the emphasis from analyzing problems to building solutions—helping clients explore what’s already working, set clear goals, and move toward a preferred future.

You’ll gain a clear, practical framework for applying SFBT in real clinical work. You’ll learn how to:

  • Structure an SFBT session from beginning to end, using core techniques like the miracle question, scaling, exception-finding, and compliments

  • Work effectively with individuals, families, couples, adolescents, and mandated clients

  • Apply SFBT with cultural sensitivity and adapt techniques across diverse client presentations

  • Use language and client strengths to build momentum and co-construct achievable goals

  • Stay within the SFBT framework while responding flexibly to complex situations

You’ll also explore the theoretical foundations of the model, including:

  • Social constructionism

  • Broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions

  • Hope theory and goal-directed change

Each concept is brought to life through clinical demonstrations, client case examples, and expert commentary.

Johnny Kim therapy demonstration
Your Learning Experience Includes

This is a fully self-directed course designed to fit your schedule and support hands-on learning. You’ll get:

  • Step-by-step video lessons with clear teaching points

  • Filmed roleplays with diverse client examples

  • Clinical commentary that connects theory to practice

  • Downloadable tools and resources for use in sessions

This course is ideal for therapists, psychologists, social workers, counselors, case managers, and coaches who want to bring more focus, direction, and momentum to their sessions -using a collaborative, goal-oriented approach.

Cynthia Franklin sitting on a chair

Course trainers

Frequently asked questions