Religion and Spirituality in Solution-Focused Brief Therapy

Year 2022, , 201 - 220, 15.06.2022

Yakup Özkapu

https://doi.org/10.37898/spc.2022.7.2.176

Abstract

Solution-focused brief therapy, developed in the late 1970s by Steve de Shazer and Insoo Kim Berg with their colleagues, is a forward-looking approach to therapy that focuses on solutions rather than problems and aims to bring about a remarkable change in people’s lives in a short period of time. There are indications that the spiritual/religious dimension of people can be taken seriously in solution-focused brief therapy, which is based on the social constructivist approach in which knowledge is constructed through interaction with others and the postmodernist view that knowledge is a subjective phenomenon. The flexible and deeply respectful perspective that the approach takes, based on the client’s point of view and the therapist’s position, encourages gaining a comprehensive understanding of the client’s worldview. Based on its content, the client’s spirituality can be understood and integrated into the therapy rather than biasing it, thereby creating a favorable environment for intercultural and spiritual counseling practices. This paper examines solution-focused brief therapy, particularly its postmodernist philosophical foundations, assumptions, and principles, and the therapeutic process and techniques based on these in terms of spirituality.

Keywords

Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT), Religion, Spirituality, Postmodernism, Social Constructivism

Çözüm Odaklı Kısa Süreli Terapide Din ve Maneviyat

Abstract

1970’lerin sonlarına doğru Steve de Shazer ve Insoo Kim Berg’in meslektaşlarıyla yapmış oldukları çalışmalar ile geliştirilen Çözüm Odaklı Kısa Süreli Terapi, problemlerden ziyade çözümlere odaklanan, insanların yaşamında kısa sürede kayda değer bir değişim yaratmayı hedefleyen ve gelecek odaklı bir terapi yaklaşımıdır. Bilginin, başkalarıyla etkileşim yoluyla yapılandırıldığı sosyal yapılandırmacı yaklaşıma ve öznel bir fenomen olduğunu savunan postmodernist bir görüşe göre yapılandırılan Çözüm Odaklı Kısa Süreli Terapide, insanların manevi/dini boyutunun ciddi bir şekilde ele alınabileceğine dair göstergeler dikkat çekmektedir. Yaklaşımın, danışan hakkındaki görüşleri ve terapistin üstlendiği pozisyon gereği sahip olduğu esnek ve derin saygı içeren bakış açısı; danışanın dünya görüşü ve içerikleri hakkında kapsamlı bir anlayış kazanmayı ve bu içerikleri esas almayı, dolayısıyla danışanın maneviyatına önyargılı yaklaşmaktan ziyade içeriğini anlamayı ve terapiye entegre etmeyi teşvik eder. Bu kapsamda kültürlerarası ve manevi danışmanlık uygulamaları için elverişli bir ortam yaratılabilir. Bu araştırmada postmodernist bir yaklaşım olan Çözüm Odaklı Kısa Süreli Terapinin, özellikle felsefi temelleri, varsayımları ve ilkeleri ile bu zeminde oluşturulan terapi süreci ve terapide kullanılan tekniklerin maneviyat ekseninde incelenmesi amaçlanmıştır.

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