What is Brief Strategic Therapy?
Brief Strategic Therapy (BST) is an intervention model used in Psychology, which focuses on solving and providing solutions to complex problems through simple, planned and intentional tools.
This type of therapy analyzes the solutions that have been adopted to solve the patient’s problem, but that have not worked. In this way, a new solution, which has not been used before, can be sought and tried.
Brief Strategic Therapy, unlike other therapies, does not look for a cause of the psychological problem that the patient has, because the past cannot be modified. In this type of therapy, the past is only used with the aim of finding out what has not worked, so that new perspectives can be raised.
The therapist performs a professional accompaniment towards this change through elaborated techniques so that the patient can see reality or build a different reality, because the one he/she has up to that moment does not allow him/her to progress in life.
Why is it done?
Brief Strategic Therapy is performed because it helps the patient to see how fear works, observing which resources he/she uses and which ones he/she does not use in order to see exactly how the fear is assembled and to be able to dismantle it. So this therapy focuses more on finding the solution and, in addition to taking these tools, it offers durability over time. It is a type of therapy that not only unblocks, but the tools to address the problem will last for a long time in the person.
The aim of this therapy is to cause a break in the circle that occurs due to the persistence of the problem in the patient despite the fact that different solutions have been proposed without success.
This therapy is applied in different types of disorders such as the following:
- Eating disorders: anorexia, bulimia.
- Sexual disorders: erectile dysfunction, premature ejaculation, desire disorders.
- Depression
- Family problems
- Couple problems
- Work problems
- Anxiety disorders
- Panic attacks
- Social phobia
- Obsessive disorder
- Psychosomatic disorders
What does it consist of?
Brief Strategic Therapy, as its name indicates, is a type of therapy that is attempted in a short period of time. Normally, the strategic therapist tries to do it in a short space of time, because if it takes too long, then a feeling of frustration appears. When therapies take too long, the patient does not find the solution to what is happening to him/her. In addition, this type of therapy is based on the idea that, even if the problem has lasted a long time in the person, the treatment should not be long, but brief and very focused.
This therapy focuses on the present moment, since the past is only observed to learn what has not worked and to propose new solutions. The professional does not offer resources to the patient, but helps him/her to discover his/her own abilities and resources.
In most cases, changes begin to be noticed before reaching 10 sessions of therapy, so that the degree of suffering or disability when it comes to thinking progressively decreases with respect to the first day during these sessions.
Preparation for Brief Strategic Therapy
Brief Strategic Therapy requires a previous preparation on the part of the patient. In this sense, the patient must be aware that he/she is suffering from a problem and that this problem is progressively increasing the symptoms of the discomfort he/she is experiencing.
Care after the intervention
After attending the Brief Strategic Therapy sessions, the patient should continue to practice the exercises and follow the guidelines recommended by the specialist. In this sense, the patient should continue to perform the exercises that have been developed during the sessions of this type of therapy.
Alternatives to this treatment
Brief Strategic Therapy constitutes an alternative therapy method to other types of therapy that currently exist.