Makale Özeti: ADLERIAN ‘ENCOURAGEMENT’ AND THE THERAPEUTIC PROCESS OF SOLUTION-FOCUSED BRIEF THERAPY

This article is showing us that some recent counseling approaches are influenced by Adler’s theory. Solution-focused brief therapy has some similarities with Adler’s therapy.
Encouragement is the important concept for Adlerian therapy. To be succeeding, therapist has to provide encouragement to the client by trying to make him empathic, enlarge communication skills, focus on his strengths, and change his mistake beliefs about his life style. There is a similarity between encouragement in Adlerian therapy and 3 areas of solution-focused brief therapy which are perspective on maladjustment, counselor-client relationship, and facilitating change.

Perspective on Maladjustment
According to Adler, people do not have pathology because of their medical problems. They have problems about something because they are demoralized about that thing; and this can solve by proving encouragement during therapy session. Similar with the Adler’s perspective; according to solution-focused brief therapy, clients don’t attend counseling because of they are sick. They follow counseling because they lose their hope about something, so that they are discouraged about that subject. A therapist’s responsibility is to try providing hope to them instead of treating them based on their diagnosis. Both of them make the client active for solving their problems.

Counselor-Client Relationship
Both Adlerians and solution-focused brief therapy describe counselor and client relation as cooperative, collaborative, egalitarian, shared, mutual, optimistic, and respectful.

Facilitating Change
Like Adlerian therapists, solution-focused brief therapy also aims to change client’s perception of the problematic events, and strengthen his strengths rather than focusing his weakness. An Adlerian therapist encourages clients to change their wrong beliefs about their life and to improve their resources; and solution-focused brief therapy is working on three aims. These are changing the doing of the situation that is perceived as problematic which means finding new ways of acting for present situation, changing the viewing of the situation that is perceived as problematic and evoking resources, solutions, and strengths to the situation that is perceived as problematic which means helping clients about finding their strengths to chance their viewing.
Interestingly, in solution-focused brief therapy literature, there is no mention of Adlerian therapy. The reason can explain with aspect of time. Adler’s ideas can be too far away from the dominant metaphors of his time, so that Adler’s theory ignored; and this cause to have mistake and inadequate literature of Adlerian theory.
Watts, R., Pietrzak, D., (2000). Adlerian ‘Encouragement’ and the Therapeutic Process of Solution-Focused Brief Therapy. Journal of Counseling and Development. 78, 442-447.

Makaleyi Özetleyen:Şeyda Varol