The Pie of Inspiration: Positioning the Therapist’s and Client’s Knowledge in Solution-Focused Brief Therapy

Abstract

Non-expert stance or “not-knowing” position plays important role in postmodern/ poststructuralist therapies (Tarragona, 2008) and at the same time many misunderstandings and potential pitfalls for therapeutic practice arose with this concept. This paper examines “knowledge” in therapeutic conversations from the perspective of one of the postmodern therapies – Solution-Focused Brief Therapy. After an introduction to the Solution-Focused Brief Therapy and its principles, attention is given to process and content related expertise and the solution-focused therapist’s positioning in conversations. The next section describes a model, called the Pie of Inspiration, which allows for reflecting on different sources of knowledge and inviting them into the solution-focused therapeutic conversation. The application of the model is illustrated through some case examples and an activity for working with children which is called Klondike.