Understanding Brief Strategic Therapy: A Constructivist Approach to Psychotherapy
When it comes to psychotherapy approaches, there are a number of different theoretical models that would explain how the person interacts with themselves, others, and the world.
Perhaps the most renowned and widespread approach is CBT, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy.
Origins of Brief Strategic Therapy
Brief Strategic Therapy (BST) is another one. This model of psychotherapy was developed by Giorgio Nardone and his collaborators at the Strategic Therapy Centre in Arezzo (Italy), which was founded by Nardone and Paul Watzlawick.
Core Aims of Brief Strategic Therapy
The aims of Brief Strategic Therapy are, on the one hand, are to get rid of the unwanted symptoms or the dysfunctional behaviour that is bothering the person; and on the other hand, are to bring about a change in the way the person perceives and builds their own reality. Influenced by constructivism, this approach is based on the idea that people build their behaviours on their own perceptions, which at the same time are based on their own experiences.
The Focus on Current Problems in Therapy
During therapy, a brief strategic therapist will try to understand how the problem works, rather than looking for the causes of it. After all, looking for the causes is looking to the past, and this, unfortunately, cannot be changed. That means that rather than wondering why the problem is present, we wonder how this problem works and what the best solution is.
Understanding and Overcoming Attempted Solutions
The first thing we do when we have a problem is try to find a solution that could work out the best for us. This strategy/solution might have been effective in the past or may have been effective for someone else in a similar situation. If the strategy works and it’s effective, the problem gets solved in a short period of time.
However, when our strategy/solution doesn’t work as we would expect, it leads us to intensify our efforts in the same direction, due to the belief that the strategy chosen is the best and most logical possible. This is what in Brief Strategic Therapy, it’s called attempted solutions. Nonetheless, the more we put in place our attempted solutions, the worse the situation gets. So, what was meant to be a solution, has ended up being a problem as such.
A good example to explain this is avoidance. When we fear something, our common sense and logical reaction lead us to avoid it. However, what we are doing in fact, by avoiding, is turn the initial stimulus into something even scarier and more sinister. Therefore, if we want a successful intervention, we have to work on the attempted solutions that are perpetuating the problem or even making it worse.
With the use of alternative strategies and persuasive communication, we will guide the person to change their own perception and take them to action. We will be helping the person to have and feel a proper corrective emotional experience that will change their perception. That is, that the person, rather than being told what would be expected to happen, they would experience the benefits and effects of these changes. That helps the person to perceive their reality with different eyes and what it is most important, to learn by doing.
This is what perhaps most differs from CBT: rather than explaining how your perceptions, feelings and behaviours work, and then to act in consequence, we will encourage you to act first, which will make the cognitive process easier. Hence, you feel first, and then you understand.
Persistent problems don’t necessarily mean long-term therapies or complex solutions. If we use the same logic of the problem, similarly to using the power of the wind to make energy, we can find together the solution. Because you can’t get different outcomes doing the same things.
How to Get Started with Brief Strategic Therapy
If you are struggling with a situation or problem, don’t hesitate to contact me at My Therapist Online.
Clinical Psychologist & Brief Strategic Therapist
Recommended reading on Brief Strategic Therapy:
"Knowing Through Changing" is a must-read for anyone interested in brief strategic therapy and its evolution. It is an insightful and informative book that provides a comprehensive overview of BST and its practical applications.
"Brief Strategic Therapy" is an insightful and informative book that provides a comprehensive overview of BST. The authors' expertise and experience in the field of psychotherapy is evident throughout the book, and the practical examples and case studies provide valuable insights into how BST can be applied in real-life therapy sessions.