How Solution-Focused Therapy Uses Goal Setting to Support Clients
Dec 23, 2025
As the new year approaches, many people start to think about what they want to change, strengthen, or bring into their lives. In therapy, this can look like clients reflecting on where they are in their journey and whether they feel ready to take the next step. Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) is a powerful approach that fits into this moment!
This approach centers on possibilities instead of problems by helping clients identify what is already working, clarify their goals, and creating realistic steps toward their preferred future. When paired with intentional goal setting, it becomes an empowering and practical tool for creating change!
What Is Solution-Focused Brief Therapy?
It is a short-term, strengths-based approach that focuses on identifying solutions and building on a client’s existing resources. Instead of digging into past experiences, SFBT looks toward the future and emphasizes what the client wants to be different.
It uses techniques such as:
- The Miracle Question, which encourages clients to imagine what life would be like if their concerns suddenly improved.
- Scaling Questions, where clients rate their progress or confidence on a scale from 1-10 to track change.
- Exception-Finding, which highlights the times when the problem was less intense or briefly absent.
- Small, actionable steps, which help clients move forward without becoming overwhelmed.
This approach is collaborative, hopeful, and practical. Research supports its effectiveness for concerns such as anxiety, depression, stress, relationship difficulties, and overall mental wellness.
Why Does Goal Setting Matter in Therapy?
It gives direction, clarity, and structure to the change process. When clients have a clear sense of what they want, therapy becomes more focused and progress becomes easier to recognize.
Research shows that:
- Clear, concrete goals can improve treatment outcomes.
- Clients are more motivated when they can visualize what they are working toward.
- Goal planning increases self-efficacy, follow-through, and emotional well-being.
Setting goals helps clients understand not just what they want to change but also how they can begin moving toward that change. It also creates space for the client and therapist to strengthen collaboration and the therapeutic alliance.
How Does SFBT and Goal Setting Work Together?
Below are key ways these approaches blend together:
- Defining best hopes. SFBT often begins by asking clients what their best hopes for therapy are. This question helps clients define what they truly want in concrete ways.
- Clarifying the preferred future. Through techniques like the Miracle Question, clients describe in detail what life would look like when things improve. This helps translate vague wishes such as “I want to feel less anxious” into vivid, meaningful images.
- Turning the vision into specific goals. Once the preferred future becomes clear, the therapist helps the client turn their vision into actionable goals. For example:
- “I want to be less overwhelmed” turns into “I want to use a grounding strategy three times per week.”
- “I want better communication” turns into “I want to initiate one planned check-in conversation with my partner each week.”
- Identifying strengths and exceptions. SFBT highlights moments when clients have already been successful. This helps clients see that they already possess strengths and strategies that can support goals.
- Choosing small next steps. Instead of pushing for massive leaps, SFBT encourages clients to take manageable, realistic steps that feel achievable. Small steps build confidence and momentum.
- Tracking progress using scaling. Scaling questions help clients see progress even if it feels small. A shift from a 3 to a 4 on a confidence scale is celebrated as a meaningful movement.
- Reinforcing what works. As clients notice progress, even in small ways, they begin to build a stronger sense of hope and capability. SFBT highlights these successes and uses them to guide the next steps.
Ready for Change? Connect with Our Client-Centered Team at Being Human Group
At Being Human Group, this approach fits within our values. We believe in meeting clients exactly where they are by honoring lived experiences, celebrating resilience, and helping them build a meaningful path forward at their pace. Solution-Focused Therapy aligns with our commitment to collaborative, client-centered care, where clients’ strengths and aspirations shape the trajectory of therapy!
About Our Michigan Therapists
The expertly trained and compassionate therapists at Being Human Group are licensed mental health professionals offering affirming, trauma-informed care to clients across Michigan through in-person sessions in Plymouth and Grosse Ile and convenient online therapy statewide. Our team brings advanced training and lived awareness in areas like trauma recovery, anxiety, depression, LGBTQIA+ mental health, relationship concerns, and life transitions, all grounded in a Health at Every Size and anti-oppressive, queer-affirming lens. โ
When you reach out for a consultation about therapy, you are matched with a therapist whose background, specialties, and style align with your goals so you can access both practical tools for right now and deeper healing for long-term change. When you're ready, reach out and take the next step toward a more grounded, authentic life.
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