Outcome of Solution-Focused Therapy at a University Family Therapy Center

This article reports results from a study of solution-focused brief therapy (N=83) conducted at the Universidad Pontifìcia de Salamanca (Spain). Outcome at follow-up was similar to that already reported in the literature: 82% of the clients stated that their problems were solved during therapy. On average, client scores on the scaling question increased 3 points (4.2 in the first to 7.2 in the last session), with 3 out of every 4 clients finishing at 7 or more on the scale. Mean number of sessions was 4.7 for the total sample (5.6 excluding dropouts), with almost 70% of the cases taking five or less interviews. Positive outcome at termination (but not at follow-up) was more likely for cases with “personal” complaints than for those with “relational” problems. A trend of favoring expert over trainee therapists in dropout rates was observed but did not reach statistical significance. Outcome at termination proved long lasting, correlating highly with outcome as measured at follow-up. Shortcomings of the study and possible implications of the data are discussed.