Solution Focused Brief Therapy Essay

Lloyd, H. & Dallos, R., (2006). Solution-focused Brief Therapy with families who have a child with intellectual disabilities: a Description of the content of initial sessions and the processes. Clinical Child Psychology And Psychiatry, 11, 367-386. doi: 10.1177/1359104506064982 In this qualitative study, the authors examined the use of solution-focused brief therapy (SFBT) with families who have one or more children with intellectual disabilities. Lloyd and Dallos explain that these families experience difficulties that are unique and must be taken in consideration when treating. Failure to take into account the difficulties that these families experience can lead to an increase of the demands and stresses due to the perceived increase …show more content…
Six of the families that participated in this study defined a miracle a situation in which the child with intellectual disabilities becoming “normal.” These same families then expressed that such a thing would be impossible, using words that were similar to “wishful thinking.” The authors suggest that “wishful thinking” is a coping method that is often associated with poor relationships with the child, poor adaptation, and the mother having less perceived control. By using scale questions instead of the miracle question, the parents were able to identify a sense of hopefulness when asked about gaining control over family life. It was suggested by the authors that SFBT encourages the parents to feel a sense of coherence while viewing their family situation. The mothers in this study reported that they were successful in integrating the goals of SFBT into their personal …show more content…
Families who have children with disabilities have to manage a range of medical, educational, and oftentimes services that assist the child with daily functioning. Many goals may be associated with the family attempting to negotiate the system they are in. Another consideration is the influence of culture and extended family on the beliefs of having a child with disability. Coles expresses that working with the client’s extended family can also be part of the family’s dilemma. It is suggested that the parents feared that sibling would be affected by the child’s disability. The sibling experienced a heightened sense of responsibility toward their sibling with the disability. This area of worrying can be a goal for the family to address in family session. Another area of consideration is the issue of the child’s protection and safety. Coles estimated that approximately two thirds of the families he worked with had some history of child protection issues. The child protection issues were expressed as part of the presenting issues. Children with disabilities are more at risk for being the victims of inaction by child protective services