The Practice of Solution-Focused Brief Therapy in Mainland China

Abstract

Solution-focused brief therapy (SFBT) is a strengths-based approach that was developed by American social workers and a team of interdisciplinary colleagues in the early 1980s. This article provides a review of SFBT in mainland China, showing the cross-cultural and transdisciplinary use of SFBT by diverse professionals within China. In particular, this article discusses how SFBT has spread from the United States to China and how the practice of SFBT has grown in mainland China. This is the first article in English to review the Chinese literature and further summarize the use of SFBT in mental health and health care fields within China. Practice implications for the future use of SFBT with Chinese people are also discussed.

Solution-Focused Brief Therapy With Latinos: A Systematic Review

“…There is literature from Asian countries such as Japan, Korea, and China (e.g., Hung & Sung, 2007;Mishima, 2012;Zhang et al, 2015). A recent systematic review from Mainland China, for example, discussed how SFBT was being implemented and studied within mental health, health care, schools, and in children's services .…”

Solution-Focused Brief Therapy in China: A Meta-Analysis

“…SFBT has been practiced in China for the past 20 years with the first Chinese literature on the intervention appearing in 2002 (Zhang et al, 2015). A systematic review of the literature was undertaken to identify outcome studies that have been conducted on SFBT in China.…”

“…There also appears to be considerable literature on the use of SFBT in international literature within Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan and Korea (e.g., Chung & Yang, 2004;Mishima, 2012;Xu, 2010;Yang, Dayu, & Yulin, 2001;Yang, Xuanwen, & Yingping, 2005;Yeung, 1999;Zhang et al, in press), suggesting that SFBT is an appropriate and effective intervention with Asians. SFBT is currently being used in Mainland China, for example, in schools, health and mental health clinics, and within youth and family services (Zhang et al, 2015). Proponents for the use of SFBT with Asian groups suggest that SFBT is very appropriate for use with Asian populations, because of the action oriented and logical way in which it is structured.…”

The Use of Solution-Focused Brief Therapy in Chinese Schools: A Qualitative Analysis of Practitioner Perceptions

“…SFBT had been practiced in Mainland China (henceforth referred to as China) since the beginning of its conception, when it was first transported to Hong Kong and then to Taiwan by its American founders, Insoo Kim Berg and Steve deShazer (Liu, et al, 2015). From Hong Kong, SFBT trainings spread throughout China during the 1990's, and Chinese schools became one of the most prominent setting practicing SFBT.…”

“…In comparison to the reported evidence of SFBT as a promising intervention for school settings in North America, more studies addressing its adaptability and implementation in different cultures/countries are desired (Franklin, et al, 2012). There is some indication from published Chinese literature that SFBT is being applied and studied in school settings (Liu et al, 2015). In one meta-analysis, Gong & Hsu (2016) identified and examined 24 SFBT group intervention studies from school settings that were published between 2000 and 2014.…”