Choosing a therapeutic approach is one of the most important decisions an aspiring psychotherapist can make. With a wide range of evidence-based modalities out there, how do you find one that aligns with your values, strengths, and the kind of change you want to support in others?
Two of the most widely used approaches in talk therapy today are Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT).
CBT is widely regarded as the “gold standard” treatment for common mental health conditions like anxiety and depression, and is supported by extensive clinical guidelines and research. SFBT has gained global popularity across schools, community services, coaching, and healthcare, making it one of the most commonly applied brief therapies worldwide.
If you’re thinking of becoming a psychotherapist, or already undergoing training in counselling, psychology, or coaching, understanding these two modalities can clarify your professional identity, guide your approach to client work, and inform your next steps in specialised training, certification, or supervision.
In this article, we’ll unpack the essential differences between CBT and SFBT to help you make an informed, empowered choice about your training journey, and the clients you hope to serve.
Table of Contents
CBT and SFBT Explained: Two Popular Talk Therapies
What is Talk Therapy?
Talk therapy, or psychotherapy, is more than just talking. It’s a structured, evidence-based approach where guided conversations help to unpack what’s beneath the surface.
In a safe and supportive space, trained therapists help clients reflect on their thoughts, emotions, and behaviours to gain meaningful insights. Through this process, clients begin to uncover patterns, understand their inner world, and explore new ways of relating to themselves and others.
At its heart, talk therapy begins with connection. Here, establishing trust is key. When clients feel heard and accepted without judgement, they’re more likely to share openly, reflect deeply, and engage in change.
Contrary to the lingering stigma in Singapore that therapy is only for those with severe mental health challenges, talk therapy can support a wide range of needs. It’s equally valuable for individuals navigating life transitions, managing stress, improving relationships, or simply seeking personal growth.
Ultimately, talk therapy helps clients translate insight into action. They learn coping skills, problem-solving strategies, and communication techniques to improve their wellbeing and build healthier, more resilient lives.
Among the many forms of talk therapy available today, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) are two widely practised and evidence-based approaches. While both are structured and goal-directed, their techniques and philosophies differ. Understanding these differences can help you discover which approach resonates most with your goals and practice.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is a structured, short-term approach that helps clients identify and change unhelpful patterns in thinking and behaviour. Rooted in the work of Aaron T. Beck, CBT takes a present-focused, goal-oriented stance, addressing current challenges rather than dwelling solely on past experiences.
At its core, CBT is based on the idea that our thoughts, feelings, and behaviours are interconnected. When thoughts become distorted, such as through catastrophising or overgeneralising, they can contribute to emotional distress and self-defeating behaviours.
CBT helps clients become aware of these automatic thoughts and cognitive distortions, and guides them through a process of cognitive restructuring, where they learn to reframe these patterns into more balanced, constructive ones.
These shifts are supported by practical, hands-on strategies, including:
- Behavioural activation: scheduling and engaging in meaningful activities to counter low mood and promote motivation.
- Skill acquisition: building problem-solving skills, emotional regulation techniques, and adaptive coping strategies.
- Structured homework assignments: such as thought records or mood diaries, which extend the impact of therapy into real life and reinforce learning.
CBT is widely used to treat a range of issues including anxiety, depression, stress, trauma, sleep difficulties, addictions, and relationship problems (Cuijpers, et. al., 2016). Its evidence-based nature and clear protocols make it a preferred modality across individual and group therapy settings, particularly for professionals looking for a practical, outcome-driven framework.
Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT)
Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) is a present- and future-focused talk therapy that helps clients move towards positive change by building on their strengths and resources, rather than analysing problems or past causes. Grounded in social constructionist philosophy, SFBT invites clients to envision a preferred future and take actionable steps to move towards it.
Instead of diagnosing or interpreting, SFBT therapists adopt a collaborative stance, using techniques such as:
- The miracle question: “If a miracle happened overnight and your problem was solved, what would be different?”
- Scaling questions: helping clients rate their current progress, confidence, or hope on a 0–10 scale.
- Goal negotiation: setting realistic, meaningful, and client-defined goals.
- Identifying exceptions: exploring times when the problem was less intense or absent.
- Compliments: affirming clients’ efforts and highlighting what is already working.
This strengths-based, goal-directed model is especially effective in contexts where brief, practical interventions are needed, such as in coaching, education, social work, or youth services. It also resonates with practitioners who want to empower clients through respectful dialogue and a focus on what’s possible.
Shared Strengths of CBT and SFBT
While Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) differ in their techniques and theoretical underpinnings, they share several core strengths that make them appealing to aspiring psychotherapists.
Goal-Oriented and Time-Efficient
Both CBT and SFBT are designed to be brief, focused, and purposeful. Rather than open-ended exploration, these modalities emphasise clearly defined goals and measurable progress, which is ideal for clients seeking practical outcomes in a shorter time frame.
Collaborative and Empowering
Both CBT and SFBT are designed to be brief, focused, and purposeful. Rather than open-ended exploration, these modalities emphasise clearly defined goals and measurable progress, which is ideal for clients seeking practical outcomes in a shorter time frame.
Evidence-Based and Widely Respected
CBT and SFBT are both grounded in research and supported by clinical trials (Kim, et. al., 2019; David, et. al., 2018). This makes them attractive options for therapists who want to work in hospitals, schools, community agencies, or private practice settings where accountability and measurable outcomes matter.
Skills-Focused and Practical
Whether it’s skill acquisition in CBT or identifying exceptions in SFBT, both modalities offer practical tools that clients can use beyond the therapy room. They help clients build resilience, manage distress, and take actionable steps toward their goals.
Adaptable Across Contexts
From youth counselling to executive coaching, these approaches are flexible and culturally adaptable. They can be applied across a wide range of populations and issues, making them especially useful for therapists working in diverse settings.
CBT vs SFBT: Key Differences Explained
Core Philosophy
At the heart of CBT is the idea that distorted thinking leads to emotional distress and unhelpful behaviours. The therapist works with the client to identify and challenge automatic thoughts, core beliefs, and schemas that may be contributing to difficulties. The focus is on understanding problems and changing maladaptive patterns through logic, evidence, and practice.
SFBT, on the other hand, is rooted in solution-building rather than problem-solving. It assumes that clients already have the resources they need to change. Rather than analysing what’s wrong, SFBT helps clients imagine their preferred future and take small steps toward it. The therapist adopts a “not-knowing” stance, using carefully crafted questions to elicit hope, strengths, and moments of success.
Session Structure
In a CBT session, therapists follow a structured format that may include reviewing homework, setting an agenda, exploring cognitive distortions, and assigning new tasks. Techniques like cognitive restructuring, behavioural activation, and exposure therapy are often used.
Homework assignments are a key component, typically therapist-directed and designed to extend learning, such as completing thought records, experimenting with new behaviours, or tracking moods and triggers between sessions.
SFBT sessions are more fluid but still focused. The therapist often opens with a question like “What’s better since we last met?” and may introduce the miracle question, scaling questions, or invite clients to identify exceptions: times when the problem was less present.
While homework may be suggested in SFBT, it tends to be client-led and based on insights from the session, such as noticing when things go slightly better or doing more of what’s already working. Sessions typically end with genuine compliments and a collaborative summary that reinforces strengths and progress.
Applications
CBT is widely used for anxiety, depression, trauma, OCD, phobias, and other mental health conditions with well-established protocols. It’s also used in medical and organisational settings where symptom reduction or behavioural change is a primary goal.
SFBT shines in coaching, brief counselling, school settings, and contexts where clients may not identify with a mental health diagnosis but still seek meaningful change. It’s also a strong fit for solution-focused coaching, family work, and cross-cultural practice where strengths-based, future-oriented conversations are welcomed.
CBT vs SFBT at a Glance
CBT | SFBT | |
Core Philosophy | Identifies and challenges maladaptive thoughts and behaviours | Builds solutions based on client strengths and preferred future |
Therapist Role | Expert, educator, and guide | Collaborator and facilitator of client insight |
Focus | Problems, triggers, and patterns | Goals, exceptions, and possibilities |
Techniques | Cognitive restructuring, behavioural activation, exposure, homework | Miracle question, scaling questions, compliments, small steps |
View of Client | May hold unhelpful or distorted beliefs needing correction | Has resources and competencies that can be activated |
Session Structure | Structured agenda with psychoeducation and homework | Conversational, co-constructed, goal- and resource-focused |
Best Suited For | Clients with clinical or diagnostic concerns who benefit from structured, evidence-informed methods, or those seeking clarity and change through targeted, goal-oriented strategies. | Clients navigating change, transitions, or challenges who prefer a collaborative, strengths-based approach focused on solutions, resources, and future possibilities |
Sources: Beck (2011); Butler et al. (2006); Hofmann et al. (2012); Kim et al. (2010); Jordan, Froerer, & Bavelas (2013); de Shazer & Dolan (2012).
Finding Your Fit
Every aspiring therapist brings their own unique experiences, values, and worldview to the work. Choosing a modality is about finding an approach that aligns with one’s philosophy, fits one’s natural way of relating, and resonates with the people one hopes to support.
Some may feel drawn to the foundational importance of thoughts, emotions, and behaviour, and the structured path that CBT offers. Others may find greater alignment with SFBT’s emphasis on future possibilities, strengths, and collaborative conversations.
Reflect on how you naturally relate to others:
- CBT may resonate if you:
- Enjoy structured plans and step-by-step processes
- Feel comfortable teaching and guiding
- Are drawn to problem-solving and logical analysis
- Prefer to work with measurable outcomes and detailed frameworks
- Enjoy structured plans and step-by-step processes
- SFBT may resonate if you:
- Thrive on client-led conversations and creative questioning
- See yourself as a facilitator rather than an expert
- Believe in highlighting strengths over exploring deficits
- Prefer to stay focused on the future rather than the past
- Thrive on client-led conversations and creative questioning
Just as therapists differ in style, so too do clients in what they respond best to.
- CBT is often a first-line treatment for clinical issues such as anxiety disorders, depression, and trauma.
Clients dealing with intrusive thoughts, avoidance behaviours, or emotional dysregulation often benefit from CBT’s structured interventions and practical tools. Its focus on identifying unhelpful thought patterns and replacing them with more adaptive ways of thinking can provide clients with clarity, emotional regulation, and a greater sense of control.
CBT is especially effective for individuals who appreciate a logical, step-by-step approach and are willing to engage in structured tasks such as journaling, thought tracking, or behavioural experiments.
It is commonly used in clinical mental health settings, including hospitals, private practices, and community mental health services, where evidence-based interventions and measurable outcomes are often prioritised. For example, local institutions like the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) and SingHealth have been incorporating CBT within multidisciplinary programmes in chronic pain or mental health treatment.
- SFBT, by contrast, is especially useful in contexts where clients may feel stuck, disempowered, or unsure of their strengths, such as in a coaching practice, school-based work, or youth and social services.
Its focus on what’s already working can boost confidence and engagement, even when problems feel overwhelming.
SFBT is also valuable when working with trauma-related concerns, particularly in situations where revisiting past events may risk re-traumatisation.
By staying future-focused and resource-oriented, it offers a safe, empowering alternative for clients who may not be ready, or do not wish, to explore their trauma in depth.
Rather than viewing these approaches as competing, it’s helpful to see them as different lenses that can be applied based on your client’s goals, context, and readiness for change. Ultimately, the best fit is one that energises you to learn, complements how you communicate, and supports the kind of change you want to help others create.
Blending CBT and SFBT: The Best of Both Worlds
Many psychotherapists begin their journey with a single foundational discipline. This provides the consistency and structure needed to build confidence, understand the rationale behind interventions, and recognise the scope and limits of a given approach.
Over time, it’s also common for therapists to evolve toward a more integrative or eclectic style. This shift often stems from a desire to better meet the diverse and nuanced needs of their clients.
As the comparison table above shows, CBT and SFBT each bring unique strengths to the therapy room. CBT offers deep insight into thought-behaviour patterns and tools for long-term change, while SFBT centres on hope, action, and client-led transformation.
For instance:
- A therapist might use CBT strategies such as cognitive restructuring to challenge negative thought patterns, while incorporating SFBT’s scaling questions to track progress and reinforce optimism.
- In moments of acute distress, CBT’s structured techniques can help stabilise symptoms, followed by SFBT’s future-focused conversations to support hope and momentum.
- For clients struggling with low motivation or self-belief, a therapist might begin with SFBT techniques like identifying exceptions and offering meaningful compliments to build confidence and momentum, while incorporating CBT’s therapist-directed homework tasks, such as experimenting with new behaviours or keeping a thought diary.
Importantly, integration doesn’t mean diluting either approach. The key is staying anchored in your core competencies while remaining responsive to what each client needs at each moment.
Which Path Will You Choose?
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Solution-Focused Brief Therapy, while different in philosophy, structure, and technique, both offer rich, evidence-based pathways to support change and healing. Whether you’re drawn to the structured problem-solving of CBT or the future-oriented empowerment of SFBT, what matters most is finding an approach that aligns with your values, strengths, and aspirations.
There is no one-size-fits-all modality, nor a single “right” way to practise therapy. What matters is choosing a foundation that feels meaningful, while continuing to evolve with experience, curiosity, and care.
If you’re ready to take the next step in your professional journey, The School of Positive Psychology’s Postgraduate Diploma in Psychotherapy and Counselling (PGDPC) offers an integrative, culturally attuned programme grounded in both CBT and SFBT. Designed for those who want to practise psychotherapy and counselling in Singapore’s diverse landscape, PGDPC combines rigorous academic training, applied skills, and practical supervision.
Whether you hope to work in clinical, community, or coaching contexts, the PGDPC equips you to support others through meaningful, ethical, and compassionate practice.
Get in touch with us to learn more about the PGDPC programme, and take the next step towards a rewarding career in mental health.
References
Beck, J. S. (2011). Cognitive behavior therapy: Basics and beyond (2nd ed.). Guilford Press.
Butler, A. C., Chapman, J. E., Forman, E. M., & Beck, A. T. (2006). The empirical status of cognitive-behavioral therapy: A review of meta-analyses. Clinical Psychology Review, 26(1), 17–31. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2005.07.003
Cuijpers, P., Cristea, I. A., Karyotaki, E., Reijnders, M., & Huibers, M. J. (2016). How effective are cognitive behavior therapies for major depression and anxiety disorders? A meta‐analytic update of the evidence. World Psychiatry, 15(3), 245–258. https://doi.org/10.1002/wps.20346
David, D., Cristea, I., & Hofmann, S. G. (2018). Why cognitive behavioral therapy is the current gold standard of psychotherapy. Frontiers in psychiatry, 9, 4.
de Shazer, S., & Dolan, Y. (2012). More than miracles: The state of the art of solution-focused brief therapy. Routledge.
Hofmann, S. G., Asnaani, A., Vonk, I. J., Sawyer, A. T., & Fang, A. (2012). The efficacy of cognitive behavioral therapy: A review of meta-analyses. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 36(5), 427–440. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-012-9476-1
Jordan, S. S., Froerer, A. S., & Bavelas, J. B. (2013). Microanalysis of positive and negative content in solution-focused brief therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy expert sessions. Journal of Systemic Therapies, 32(3), 46–59. https://doi.org/10.1521/jsyt.2013.32.3.46
Kim, J., Jordan, S. S., Franklin, C., & Froerer, A. (2019). Is solution-focused brief therapy evidence-based? An update 10 years later. Families in Society, 100(2), 127-138.
Kim, J. S., Smock, S., Trepper, T. S., McCollum, E. E., & Franklin, C. (2010). Is solution-focused brief therapy evidence-based?. Families in society, 91(3), 300-306.
