Posttraumatic Success: Solution-Focused Brief Therapy

Bannink, Fredrike P. MDR

From the Therapy, Training, Coaching, and Mediation Practice

Contact author: Fredrike P. Bannink, Clinical Psychologist, Therapy, Training, Coaching, and Mediation Practice, Schubertstraat 17, 1077 GP Amsterdam, The Netherlands. E-mail: [email protected].

Brief Treatment and Crisis Intervention 8(3):p 215-225, August 2008.

Results of several studies suggest that traumas need not be debilitating and that most people are resilient and even grow in the wake of a trauma. Understanding and highlighting the sources of this resilience and posttraumatic growth and focusing on hope and optimism help professionals foster these strengths in their clients, as opposed to focusing on what is wrong with them, which can have a discouraging effect. From a solution-focused perspective, the focus in treatment shifts from posttraumatic stress to posttraumatic success.