Quiz Entry - updated: 2026.06.26
What are the three defining features of the solution-focused model?
Attention shifts from problems to wishes; problems are seen as transient rather than analysable; and a solution is a different kind of context, not the mirror-image of the problem.
- Attention moves consistently away from problems, difficulties and suffering, toward people's concerns and wishes. The conversation orients to what someone wants, not what's wrong.
- Problems aren't treated as something to be analysed, but as something transient — present at times, absent at others — so excavating them isn't the route forward.
- A solution is not the opposite of a problem, but a context of an entirely different quality. You don't reach a solution by negating the problem; you construct a desired state that has its own character.
This flips the usual therapeutic instinct. Where problem-analysis assumes "understand the cause, then remove it," solution-focus assumes you can build toward what's wanted without first dissecting what's broken.
Tip: Solution ≠ "problem removed." It's a different place you build, not a hole you fill.