Brief counseling has nine defining characteristics (Littrell & Zinck, 2004). These are not mutually exclusive from characteristics of other counseling approaches, but taken together they give brief counseling its uniqueness.
The nine characteristics are:
- relationship-based
- humor-eliciting
- time-limited
- solution-focused
- action-based
- socially interactive
- detail-oriented
- developmentally attentive
- culturally responsive
What is the nature of goals in brief counseling? Brief counselors find that helping clients set goals is a valued process that enhances client movement from where they currently are to a desired state in the future.
Goals that meet six criteria are valuable in the change process. These criteria are:
- stated in the positive
- meaningful to the client
- under the client's control
- specific and concrete
- short-term versus long-term
- small
The counselor and client mutually negotiate the goals of counseling. Goals are reached when the client indicates one of the following: "I no longer have a problem," or "This is something I can live with."
The nature of the counseling relationship is the defining aspect of all forms of counseling. If the facilitative conditions of warmth, genuineness, and empathy are present, counselors increase their chances of being the helpers they want to be, even as they use some powerful brief counseling techniques, such as employing scaling, finding exceptions, asking the miracle question, and eliciting clients' sense of humor.
Brief counselors have numerous maps to guide their thinking about change. The three maps Dr. Littrell has found most useful are:
- Prochaska's stages of change model (Prochaska, Norcross, & DiClemente, 1994)
- the problem-focused brief counseling model developed at MRI (Fisch, Weakland, & Segal, 1982; Watzlawick, Weakland, & Fisch, 1974)
- the solution-focused brief counseling model (Berg & Steiner, 2003; de Shazer, 1985, 1988)
While these maps form the basis of his work, Dr. Littrell has also been influenced by cognitive–behavioral therapy, person-centered therapy, Gestalt therapy, neurolinguistic programming, and acceptance and commitment therapy.
Dr. Littrell finds that most people he sees as clients are struggling with developmental concerns and issues, such as making transitions, learning new skills, and enhancing relationships. When describing these issues and concerns to counselors, most clients engage in problem talk, not solution talk. Dr. Littrell helps clients focus on what they want, rather than on what they don't want. He and the client focus on the client's strengths, not his or her weaknesses. Finally, Dr. Littrell works with clients to generate ways to achieve their goals, rather than drown in problem talk or stay stuck in their histories.
Referred clients are often in the precontemplation stage of change; the counselor's challenge is to help them move to the contemplation stage of change—these clients challenge the counselor's flexibility and resources. Clients with severe problems requiring medication are not prime candidates for brief counseling.
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