The Solution Focused Brief Therapy Diamond: A New Approach to SFBT That Will Empower Both Practitioner and Client to Achieve the Best Outcomes Paperback – March 28, 2023

Master clinicians Elliott Connie and Adam Froerer's latest effort represents a dramatic leap forward in the area of Solutions Focused Brief Therapy. SFBT is diametrically different than many other therapies in that it presupposes strength within the client, minimizes any focus on the problem, and focuses on the client's preferred future outcomes. As Connie and Froerer help you gain clinical confidence in the language driven methodology you will no longer find yourself parroting questions or simply pulling out the Miracle Question or Scaling Questions with little faith in what to do next. Their Diamond model provides a roadmap and framework so you always know where you are at in the course of the session and where you are going. Moreover, with their genuine nature to cultivate hope, Connie and Froerer in turn inspire you as the clinician to allow your clients full autonomy to find their hopeful futures. By the end of the book you'll come to see SFBT not as a toolbox of sometimes disconnected questions and techniques but instead as an evidence based psychotherapeutic approach that you can use for all of your clients, with any population presenting with any given issue.

I've been curious about SFBT for a while but didn't know much about it, then I stumbled across this book, and I'm SO glad I did! Thanks to this book, I feel like I could conduct an entire SFBT session with confidence right now! It has literally changed my life. To be fair, some of the ideas in the book are self-contradictory or feel half-baked, but I imagine this is somewhat inevitable for people on the cutting edge who are learning, growing, creating, and sharing as much as Elliott and Adam. For example, the book says to close with a comment like, "I look forward to seeing what you do" (104), but it later suggests you should not expect them to come back or put pressure on them that way. When I asked about this on one of their YouTube videos, they responded: "You can end in any way that doesn't remove client autonomy. There are many ways to end and still stay our of our client's way. However if you say, 'I look forward to seeing what you do' now means the clients may feel expected to come back and feel expected to have something for you to see. So that wouldn't be a comment we'd recommend." The book also says to "never compliment" (57), but then Elliott shares a compelling example of when a professor's compliment had a significant impact on him and expanded his view of himself and his potential (76). I asked about this on YouTube as well, and they responded with a persuasive solution: we can ask questions where the clients compliment themselves. For example, "How did you learn to get so good at that?" Despite some minor imperfections, this book will be a staple of my future practice, perhaps THE staple. I cannot recommend it highly enough, and I'm grateful that Elliott and Adam's insights extend far beyond the pages of this book into an extensive, interactive library of resources elsewhere.Finally, I have some thoughts about the racism discussion included in the book. I'm glad the authors had the courage to share it. Elliott's attitude, resilience, and overwhelming success despite his treatment are incredible, and Adam seems to be a great example of being an ally in these situations. At the same time, I think if it's worth mentioning in the book, it's worth saying more. It must be difficult to walk the line between being honest about the situations without calling out specific people. However, I wish there were more specifics provided, for a couple of reasons. First, I think a lot of racism is inadvertent, unconscious, and/or unintentional; saying specifically what was done/said that was racist could be enlightening. Second, the accounts are so vague that some readers may doubt them. For example, someone saying, "Be careful who you associate with" could be racist, or it could be about something totally different. People who are victims of racism shouldn't have to recount their abuses, yet the more they do, the fewer people will be blissfully ignorant of the hideous reality of racism. The way it's treated in this book, readers just have to take Elliott and Adam's word for it about the racism they've experienced, which because of confirmation bias likely won't change anyone's minds. Just food for thought as you guys write the next book! Keep fighting the good fight! :)

This book is for, not only for mental health professionals, but also for anyone in a profession providing guidance and transformation to others. The Solution Focused Brief Therapy Diamond is a how-to-do guide to use the three-step process to engage your clients on their own journey of transformation. The theoretical framework of the book has been well researched by Dr. Adam Froerer and Elliott Connie, but what makes the book so educational and enjoyable to read are all the examples of their work with clients. However, what captured my heart was their commitment to each other through numerous incidences of discrimination, disappointment, and personal family traumas. But I think that Chris Iverson in the Forward explains it best. It is a love story between the lives of two men, their families, and their commitment to their work together in psychotherapy. JAHS, Ph.D., LICSW

I found this book incredibly helpful. Not only is it written in clear easy to understand language which makes it an easy read. It also covers many of the burning questions/ anxieties I think we all have when learning to apply this approach given it is so different to many other types of psychotherapy. The diamond provides a useful framework to understand what you are doing when first starting out and for those more familiar with the approach there are lots of finer details that help with creating meaningful questions. This book was a great confidence builder for me. So pleased I read it. It started making a difference in my practice after reading the first chapter!

This book is a new approach to SFBT That Will Empower Both Practioner And Client To Achieve The Best Outcome.This book is mostly for a Therapist or a client looking for this time of therapy.I am neither but still enjoyed reading about the author's and their history and how they found out about Brief Therapy Diamond helped them as therapist.This book also includes self-help advice,as well as some of their clients stories.When I bought this book the author Elliott at the time was offering free bonuses if you bought the book as well.Even without the bonuses though I would still probably check it out.So if you are looking for a book to read that tells about a nontypical time of therapy this would be the one to get.