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SFBT Treatment Manuals

This manual provides a structured yet flexible overview of Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT)—including its general framework, key techniques, and supporting research. Developed following the guidelines of Carroll and Nuro (2002) and Carroll and Rounsaville (2007), it is designed to support both clinical training and outcome research. Grounded in brevity and clarity, the manual offers clear pathways for deeper exploration through related literature.

Support SFBTA's Research Team in expanding access to this manual by volunteering as a translator for this manual. Translations of the Treatment Manual are currently in progress in the following languages through the support of volunteer translators: Chinese (Mandarin), French, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Swedish, Ukrainian, and Urdu.

SFBT Treatment Manuals

This manual provides a structured yet flexible overview of Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT)—including its general framework, key techniques, and supporting research. Developed following the guidelines of Carroll and Nuro (2002) and Carroll and Rounsaville (2007), it is designed to support both clinical training and outcome research. Grounded in brevity and clarity, the manual offers clear pathways for deeper exploration through related literature.

Support SFBTA's Research Team in expanding access to this manual by volunteering as a translator for this manual. 

SFBT Treatment Manual 3rd 
Edition (2025)

SFBT Treatment Manual 2nd Edition (2013)

SFBT Treatment Manual 1st Edition (2010)

De Shazer and Berg Legacy Materials


Materials

Thank you to Harry Korman!

Harry shared these materials with us. They were originally published on the SFBTA webpage after Steve De Shazer and Insoo Kim Berg had passed away. As the website has changed hands over the years, some of these materials fell into an archive. We are most thankful to Harry Korman for retrieving them.

After Insoo’s passing in 2007, her sister, CJ Kim and her daughter, Sarah Berg, decided to give the rights to BFTC’s various training materials to the Solution Focused Brief Therapy Association (which Steve and Insoo helped to found in 2002). The Association is deeply grateful for having been granted stewardship of this tremendous legacy. At the following link, please find essays, handouts, etc., that were posted on the BFTC website. Please feel free to use these, giving credit to Steve and Insoo.

Please note that we’re no longer able to share many of the videos that were left with us, given that the only videos we’re able to sell in our online store were made using actors. To respect confidentiality, we are not selling any videos that include actual clients. 

As we continue to find other legacy materials, we’ll share them here. If you have access to any additional materials, please share them with us at board@sfbta.org.

Thank you!

 20-Minute Interview by Insoo Kim BergBFTC Students' Corner by Insoo Kim Berg Brief by Steve De Shazer (2000)Brief Therapy: Two's Company by Steve De Shazer (1975) Building Solutions with Mandated Clients by Insoo Kim BergCase Presentation/Consultation Online by Insoo Kim Berg (2002)
Collaborative Assessment
Description not Explanation by Steve De Shazer (1990)
"Don't Think, but Observe :" What is the Importance of the Work of Ludwig Wittgenstein for Solution-Focused Brief Therapy by Steve De Shazer Emotions and Scaling Questions by Steve De Shazer Indications of Client Engagement by Insoo Kim Berg (2001)For Students Only by Insoo Kim Berg 
Goals & Solutions: A Useful Distinction by Steve De ShazerHot Tips by Insoo Kim Berg  Hot Tips by Insoo Kim Berg (2)Hot Tips II-V by Insoo Kim Berg How Come Solution-Focused Brief Therapists Think Diagnosis is so Bad? by Steve De Shazer (1998)Insoo Kim Berg Curriculum Vitae
Questions Lead-In by Insoo Kim BergSFBT Outcome Studies by Insoo Kim BergMuddles, Bewilderment, and Practice Theory by Steve De Shazer Paradigm Shift by Insoo Kim BergList of Questions Lead-InScales and Scaling by Steve De Shazer (2001)
 Some SFBT Language Games by Steve De Shazer (2005)Steve De Shazer Curriculum Vitae The Miracle Question by Steve De Shazer (1999)Beginnings by Steve De Shazer (1999)Radical Acceptance by Steve De Shazer (1999)Solution-Building Procedures by Insoo Kim Berg 
The Miracle Question (BFTC Publication) by  Steve De Shazer Thinking About the Miracle Question by Steve De Shazer Steve De Shazer Q&A (2002)Useful Questions for Working with Involuntary Clients by Insoo Kim Berg (1999)Working Assumptions about Children by Insoo Kim Berg (2002)Working Assumptions about Parents by Insoo Kim Berg 

The following was a short message from De Shazer & Berg upon the closing of the Brief Family Therapy Center (BFTC), located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S. 

Dear Friends,

With this short notice we bid a final farewell to all of you around the globe. Your friendship and support will be the most enduring legacy when BFTC closes its doors on December 15, 2007.

Insoo and Steve

Tributes to De Shazer and Berg

Tributes to Insoo and Steve have been prepared by their dear friend and colleague, Yvonne Dolan.