SFT Communication Strategies

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In Figure 1, one can see the communication strategy that the therapist will use in SFT. When using SFT, you are responding with the client’s response. The therapist will look for a way in during the conversation to indicate a more positive approach. One possible question may be, “How can I be helpful to you today?” or “What do you want to get out of this?” These questions allow the client to think for themselves. It’s an opportunity for them to discover the strengths they have already. Working with the client without using a blaming tactic and the therapist not act like they are the expert in the clients’ problem, is the more effective way to help the client develop a more accurate and useful outlook. If one is working with a client, allowing …show more content…
However, their issue is big they tent to lose sight of their ability to solve their own problems. In SFT, one of the techniques is to validate what the client is already doing that is positive. One area that SFT could be applied is with children that have behavioral and academic issues. Franklin et al. (2001) reported that through a study conducted on school children that had behavioral and academic issues they found that using SFT resulted in positive changes in the children. Using this method on children can allow them to see the positives that they have in their lives instead of focusing on the negatives. Just as children that act out in schools, school staff only emphasize on the negative that the child is doing at that time instead of praising them for all the positives that they have done. SFT can be just with individuals that have eating disorders such as binge eating or a child that may have outburst or aggressive …show more content…
During my internship, the supervisor and I had a conversation about SFT. I informed her that I felt that has a therapist that one needs to allow the client to work through their problems in order to be able to move on to the next stage of their lives and not dwell on past issues. However, her viewpoint of therapy was a little different. This is when we started discussing about SFT and the benefits of using the method with clients. She gave me a scenario of a male in his 50’s that would continue to use issues from his past to rectify his moods. This was due to him being sexually abused as a child and blaming his parents for it. It was not their fault; it was a relative that did it. However, he would use his past issues to get money from his parents. After much research with SFT, I can see how this type of therapy could be used with that client. As a therapist, one would explore and help the client discover the solution, strengths and resources that he already has and work on changing his thinking to be more positive in his way of