Existentialist Solution-Focused Brief Therapy

First year assignment: Provisional Model of Counseling

Central Methodist University: Theories of Counseling (CL510)

Professor Sara Briggs, Fall 2023

Assignment criteria: For the concluding assignment of our first-semester theories of counseling class we were asked to consider all the counseling modalities we had learned about and create a provisional statement describing which theory most resonated with us, our personalities, and our understanding of how human beings change. Reflecting on my personal history and experience, I determined that I begin my studies at CMU as a existentially informed solutions-focused counselor.

Introduction

Although my opinions will undoubtedly shift throughout the remainder of my training process, at this point I find myself essentially landing in the camp of bringing an existentialist mindset to solutions focused counseling. This overall approach is both a reflection of my general personality and my professional experiences, as well as the previous training I have received in psychology, pastoral counseling, and crisis intervention.

One of the reasons I find existential theory so intriguing for counseling is that it has, in many ways, been part of my life even before I knew what the term meant. I grew up in a clergy family. My grandfather, father, aunt, and uncle were all Presbyterian ministers. My grandpa’s ministry was greatly influenced by the theology of Paul Tillich and he credited existentialist philosophers with saving his mental health after his experience as a prisoner of war during World War II.

The idea that the meaning of life is essentially what we make of it, as well as the premise that life is always changing, were simply understood truths in my family’s way of life. Growing up we were free to become who we wanted to be, but that freedom was coupled with the expectation that we would use our opportunities to be of some positive use to the world. Just as Frankl describes in Man’s Search for Meaning, in our family grief was neither ignored nor celebrated, it was simply recognized as an inevitable part of life.

Even though often unspoken, these family values have profoundly shaped who I have become. My first career out of college was teaching. First, I taught fourth grade special education. Then I became an English as a second language instructor in Japan. During that time I was exposed to different cultures and found that a person’s emotional reality is often socially constructed. After teaching for a few years, I entered seminary and began a two-decade long career as a pastor and Air Force Reserve chaplain.

While serving in professional ministry I had the chance to do a great deal of counseling. In both the parish and the Air Force I was able to support people dealing with ethical crises, emotional challenges, addictive behaviors, family conflict, trauma, and other spiritual and mental health challenges. As a seminarian, I was trained in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), and the Air Force expanded my repertoire by introducing me to solutions focused brief therapy (SFBT). As helpful as my CBT training was, SFBT proved to be far more effective in the short-term, crisis-intervention type counseling that predominated in the military and parish worlds.

During that time, I learned firsthand how important it is for someone to have another person who could listen, offer advice when appropriate, and support someone as they seek to improve their own lives. When my own emotional burnout from the pandemic and service in a mortuary in a deployed location caused me to make a professional change, I chose to pursue counseling full-time because it allowed me to utilize many of the skills I had developed over the past twenty years to continue caring for people in a different, but parallel, way.

Model of Personality

Nature of people

Being raised in what was essentially an existentialist family, I came to believe that human beings have both the freedom and the responsibility to find meaning in the midst of whatever situation they find themselves in. Like Viktor Frankl said in his book, Man’s Search for Meaning, the suffering we experience is not itself a good thing, but there is meaning to be found in every moment (Frankl, 2006).

Because human beings are essentially limited and finite, perfection is always going to be an illusion. We have a tendency to wear ourselves out trying to achieve whatever we perceive perfection to be. Such an effort is always going to fail and will inevitably cause distress along the way. The key is to learn how to make the most of whatever situation a person finds themself in.

Meaning making is an inherent part of being human. It simply happens whether we intend it to or not. One of the key points of existentialism is to pursue that meaning making process intentionally and realistically, rather than allowing ourselves to be distracted by unconscious systems of meaning that may not serve us well. Like human beings themselves, meaning can also change over time depending on the situation, society, or moment in which a person finds themselves (Corey, 2021).

This open understanding of human nature is part of why I find solutions-focused brief therapy so effective. The counselor is not forced into the role of trying to make meaning happen for the client. Clients are the makers of their own meaning. They are the experts on their own inner life. For the counselor, a major task is helping the client ask the right questions to discover the meaning in their lives at that particular moment. This work can also help clients perhaps dislodge some of the inherited or imposed meanings that are causing them distress. SFBT recognizes the limitations of a counselor’s knowledge, as well as the changeability of human existence, and uses strategies like exception questions to get at the meanings that might matter to a client at any particular moment.

Mental health

As an existentialist, I tend to be skeptical of many of the ways mental health diagnoses are used in society today. While tools like the DSM-V might be helpful in providing language for someone who is trying to figure out how to manage whatever symptoms they are dealing with, I worry that such tools are not as objective as they are purported to be. Study after study has pointed to the culturally-bound ideas wrapped up in psychology’s view of normal (Corey, 2021).

There is a lot of wisdom to be found in the idea that human beings become distressed when they try to live in ways that are at odds with their internal sense of meaning. Such inauthenticity can lead to emotional problems, trauma, and even physical illness. This is why I find such congruence between existentialism and SFBT. Solution focused therapists are less concerned about whatever diagnosis a person has received than they are with the client’s understanding of the problem that brings them to counseling (Corey, 2021). In short, mental health problems are usually a sign that the client themself perceives something to be wrong.

Another challenge with mental health diagnoses in the real world is the totalizing effect they can have on a client. Once a person receives a diagnosis of any sort, it often is used by mental health providers as a summation of all that a person is. Because existentialism recognizes life as a process of change, a diagnosis is not assumed to be a constant throughout a person’s life. Rather, just because a person received a diagnosis at one time, does not mean that client is a prisoner to that reality for the rest of their life. All people are free to find new meaning in their lives at any time. In fact, that is precisely part of what a counselor should be helping their client do.

Such ideas of change and human freedom are built into SFBT. The client is free to guide the therapeutic process, as well as to determine the ways in which change might occur. In fact, the therapeutic process starts with the assumption that change is already happening. The counselor then helps the client recognize that change and motivates them to pursue that change more intentionally (Corey, 2021).

Purpose of counseling

For me the primary goal of counseling is to help my clients live in a way that is more in accordance with their sense of purpose and meaning. To do that I help people reflect on what they believe about the world, and where they find purpose. Sometimes they have unconscious motivations that conflict with the way they actually perceive the world. A client may express words they heard from their parents growing up that they no longer believe. In such a case, even though their internal motivations may have changed, their words and behavior have not, causing distress from the internal sense of inauthenticity. Some examples of this might include career expectations, body image, or gender roles.

The primary goal of both existentialist therapy and SFBT is helping the client take the responsibility for the changes necessary to live a more authentic life. The counselor does not serve as an expert on the client’s internal dialogue. The client is trusted enough to be able to take on that task themself. Instead, the counselor is seen as an expert at facilitating that change through informed questioning, social support, and encouragement (Corey, 2021).

Unfortunately, I had to learn this reality the hard way. My misunderstanding of CBT caused me to believe that the purpose of counseling was to change the client directly. I took it as my failure when a person did not change at all, changed in a way I would not have suggested, or went back to an addictive behavior. Ultimately, I learned that it is my job to support, facilitate, and encourage to the best of my ability, and I certainly can fail in those tasks, but at the same time, is it ultimately the client’s responsibility to authentically live out their own values.

Therapeutic relationship

It is this proper alignment of expectations that informs how I view a healthy therapeutic relationship. Because it is ultimately the client’s responsibility to make the changes in their life, and the counselor’s responsibility to support that process, the therapeutic relationship requires both individuals to stay in their own lanes. This is most successfully done when the relationship between client and counselor is a trusting peer-to-peer scenario.

For the client to learn how to authentically live in accordance with their own values, they need the example of a counselor who is authentically fully present to them. They need someone who does not put on a facade and is able to truly listen to the sentiments the client is expressing. This does not mean that the client and the counselor are identical, or that the counselor should seek emotional support from the client, but that they are both considered equals in the level of personal expertise they bring to the relationship, whether that expertise is the client’s own sense of self, or the counselor’s understanding of the change process.

The shape of an existentialist approach to the therapeutic relationship looks very similar to that of SFBT. Solution focused counselors recognize that the client knows themself better than anyone else ever could. The counselor helps to ask questions, point out exceptions, and motivate change, but they hold no dictatorial power (Corey, 2021). All decisions are ultimately up to the client, which dovetails very well with the sense of personal freedom inherent in existentialism. This is also why SFBT can be so effective in multicultural settings.

How people change

Because the responsibility to change is ultimately up to each individual, the counselor has the task of helping clients develop a better sense of self-awareness. This awareness comes in many forms. There is an awareness of a person’s expectations, attitudes, and motivations (conscious or unconscious), as well as an awareness of how those factors manifest themselves in a person’s behavior.

Both existentialism and SFBT see behaviors as a reflection of a person’s interior life. The first part of changing those behaviors is helping clients become more aware of what is happening. Where SFBT goes a step further is in the recognition that these behaviors are not constant. Like people themselves, our actions are always changing, and becoming aware of these subtle changes helps clients more intentionally pursue making healthy changes permanent, while seeking to avoid the unhealthy changes. This is what is meant by the concept, “if it’s working do more of it. If it’s not, do less of it” (Corey, 2021).

Unfortunately, sometimes a lack of awareness can hold a person back from change. Someone who is unable to see the variations in their lives may need a counselor to help them discover the exceptions that inform SFBT. Sometimes a person’s freedom will be limited by circumstances beyond their control like abuse, discrimination, or economic realities. In such situations, a client may not be aware of the remaining avenues available to them. A counselor can help a client find a deeper sense of awareness, even when the choices remaining are not as plentiful as the individual would like.

However, while awareness is necessary for change, it is not always sufficient. Sometimes it is necessary for the counselor to take on the role of motivator. Existentialism says that all people are capable of change and meaning making, even if in small ways. SFBT facilitates that change by helping to motivate a client to build on the skills, resources, and successes they have already demonstrated. The hope is that awareness of those positives will inspire further changes once the client leaves the counselor’s office.

Techniques and strategies

Because existentialism is not so much a technique as it is a philosophy, it has proven fairly successful for me to take the ideas inherent in that school of thought and apply them directly to the techniques of SFBT.

The basic three-fold pattern of existential therapy maps well onto the typical SFBT treatment. A counselor helping the client identify their assumptions about the world is parallel to the way a solution-focused counselor helps the client identify the problem at the beginning of a session. Evaluating a values system and exploring what needs to change parallel the process of finding exceptions, asking grading questions, and posing a version of the miracle question. Finally, supporting clients as they put their insights into action parallels the summing up/sending out process that a solution-focused counselor ends a session with.

What SFBT most effectively adds to the equation is a series of specific exercises and techniques that reflect the existentialist worldview. Because human beings are constantly changing, asking exception questions helps people to see where things might have improved, even if incrementally. The Likert-scale grading questions help clients rank the intensity of the emotions or problems they might be facing. This helps the counselor zero in on the most pressing situation, and helps the client to define the problem for themself (Corey, 2021).

Because it is self-graded, the scaling questions can also be used to define the baseline in a person’s life. When connected with the miracle question, it can also help define what totally successful treatment might look like. The miracle question is a powerful technique, when properly handled, that allows a person to begin envisioning a future beyond their current reality. That vision can be combined with the exception questions to point out changes which have already occurred, improving motivation and inspiring future growth on the part of the client.

The exception questions also provide a key to crafting homework that is specific to the client and their particular situation. This happens most successfully when it builds on a thing the individual is already doing or working to not do. Again, the idea of “if it’s working, do more of it. If it’s not, do less of it.” By co-creating the homework, the freedom of the client is preserved, as well as the role of the counselor as an expert in the change facilitation (Corey, 2021).

The biggest challenge with all of these SFBT techniques is precisely in their flexibility. When done in a formulaic way without recognizing the specific needs, wants, and motivations of the client, these techniques may have the unintended potential to disempower the very person they were designed to help. This is why SFBT matches so well with existentialism. When a client is expected to create their own meaning, the counselor is less likely to impose their will or values. The inherent freedom of existentialism allows (if not forces) the client to be the primary driver of their own recovery.

Strengths and shortcomings

There are many strengths that my approach to counseling brings to the table. Existentialism has taught me that human beings are in constant change, and always have the freedom to become the best version of themselves, no matter the situation in which they find themselves. Life is always going to be challenging, but by looking at things realistically, it is always possible to move forward in some way.

My belief that meaning is not fixed, but evolves based on society, situation, and time in life gives me the encouragement that my clients will always be able to find some way of moving forward, even when a person does not have access to all the choices they would have liked. This idea that human beings are infinitely capable of growth is why I have found the SFBT exception question such a valuable tool.

My experiences overseas and living in different cultures have taught me that motivations, values, and emotions are all influenced to some degree by the societies in which we live. This realization allows me to be less likely to impose my values and expectations on my clients. It has also given me a more informed basis to ask insightful questions when working with individuals from cultures different from my own.

Another strength that I bring to the table is a great deal of experience using SFBT in the real world. I have been able to learn what works about that modality, as well as how to modify the techniques to better reflect the needs of the particular individual with whom I am working. Additionally, this experience has given me a deeper understanding of the ways my own experience growing up influenced by existentialists has shaped my own views of humanity and its potential.

Unfortunately, this background also carries with it some limitations. Existentialism is not a worldview shared by everyone. For some clients, a focus on meaning and purpose would be beside the point of what they are trying to accomplish in their counseling process. For clients who have cognitive limitations or mental disorders that limit their ability to engage in the meta conversations inherent in existentialism, a more directive approach may be necessary.

For example, someone who is dealing with certain neuroses may need a more confrontational approach to counseling. Additionally, there are people whose cultural expectations of counseling expertise would cause them to seek a counselor more willing to assume the role of expert. This is why I will need to be aware of my SFBT and existentialist bias and be willing to adjust when the needs or desires of the client require a different approach that resonates more with that particular individual.

Another potential limitation that I need to be aware of is that my experience using SFBT in military and pastoral settings may potentially have given me a sense of over-familiarity with one particular technique. Besides the shortcomings listed above, there are personal differences between clients that might require a different counseling modality. I will always need to be aware of my tendency to paint with one particular therapeutic brush and be willing to be stretched throughout this educational process.

Summary

In the end, my early familiarity with existentialism has greatly shaped my attitudes about the world and the way I approach the counseling process. My personal experiences in parish ministry and Air Force chaplaincy have shown me the value of having someone to listen, reflect, and encourage. The professional experiences I have had along the way have also given me a deeper understanding of counseling and the way human beings change than I could have received in any other way.

My experiences cause me to believe that human beings are inherently meaning-making creatures. We are not bound by our past but can always grow into something new. The freedom to change must always be balanced by a sense of responsibility to the world around us. The awareness of how to live that freedom and responsibility out in our daily lives is one of the major gifts that comes from the counseling process. For me, SFBT is the technique that most fully captures the attitude of existentialism in a therapeutic modality.

My commitment to diversity and client as expert are strengths that I bring to the table as a counselor. Additionally, my professional experiences have given me a deep understanding of people and how they change. On the other hand, this extensive background has the possibility of potentially painting myself into a corner and causing me to miss the gifts that other modalities might offer to a particular client or situation. It is my hope to become more aware of my limitations and blind spots while building on my strengths and experiences throughout this counseling training process.

References

• Corey, G. (2021). Theory and practice of counseling and psychotherapy, 10th edition. Cengage Learning, Inc.
• Frankl, V.E. (2006). Man’s search for meaning. Beacon Press.