Solution Focused Therapy (SFT) for Working with Adolescents

This engaging live online course with Paul Grantham explores how Solution Focused Therapy (SFT) can be effectively applied when working with adolescents. Adolescence is a time of rapid change, identity formation, and emotional turbulence, making a strengths-based, goal-oriented approach particularly valuable. Rather than focusing on problems or pathology, SFT helps young people identify their own resources, successes, and hopes for the future.

Drawing on clinical experience and practical demonstration, the session will show how SFT techniques — such as scaling, exception-finding, and the “miracle question” — can be adapted for teenagers’ communication styles and developmental needs. Participants will gain skills to foster collaboration, motivation, and resilience in young clients, even in brief or school-based settings.

Research supports the use of Solution Focused Therapy (SFT) with adolescents across clinical, school, and community settings. Studies show that SFT enhances motivation, self-efficacy, and emotional well-being while reducing anxiety, depression, and behavioural difficulties. Its brief, goal-oriented structure and emphasis on strengths align well with adolescents’ developmental needs for autonomy and competence. Evidence from controlled trials and school-based programmes highlights improvements in resilience, attendance, and peer relationships. SFT’s adaptable, collaborative nature makes it particularly effective in engaging resistant or hard-to-reach youth. Overall, findings suggest SFT is a practical, empowering, and evidence-informed approach for supporting adolescent mental health.

Key Learning Outcomes | By the end of the course, participants will:

• Understand the principles of Solution Focused Therapy and their specific relevance to adolescent development.
• Learn how to build rapport and engagement with young clients using language and methods suited to their age and context.
• Develop practical skills for goal-setting, scaling progress, and reinforcing strengths in adolescents.
• Explore strategies to handle resistance, family involvement, and systemic issues in a solution-focused way.
• Gain confidence in applying brief, effective, and empowering interventions with teenagers in clinical, educational, and community settings.