Brief Therapy FAQ
- What is Brief Therapy?
- Who can Brief Therapy Help?
- How Brief Therapy Works?
- What to Expect after Brief Therapy?
Brief Therapy is a proven approach to psychotherapy that aims to help people overcome specific problems or crises in their lives. As a planned short term psychotherapy, brief therapy typically lasts three to six sessions.
Brief Therapy works well for people who are in the middle of a life crisis such as divorce or separation, a sudden career change or sudden bereavement.
In a crisis, people may experience a range of emotions and reactions and many of these emotions can be extreme. People can feel emotionally overwhelmed or completely numb. The commonality is that either extreme ot emotional state can interfere with the ability to navigate the crisis and achieve a resolution.
The first step is to bring the emotional intensity to an optimal level. This allows for a more objective assessment of their reactions to the crisis. At this point, work begins on the core assumptions that the reactions are based on. Finally the therapist and client work together to find specific solutions to the crisis.
What to Expect after Brief Therapy?
The goal of brief therapy is to restore the client’s equilibrium to what it was before the crisis/problem arose.
For many, brief therapy is a good match for their needs. Others may find that long-standing issues have played a role in the crisis and want to address them. Still others may become interested in the process of self-discovery they have just experienced and want to explore further along this path. At this point, people can choose to engage in longer-term psychotherapy to work on broader goals.