Books / Systemic & family
Clues: Investigating Solutions in Brief Therapy
Steve de Shazer’s Clues (1988) describes solution-focused brief therapy and uses cases and a computer-assisted analysis to explore how solutions develop.
Book details
Author of listed edition: Steve de Shazer
Edition: Paperback (1988)
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Edition year: 1988
Language and origin: English (United States)
ISBN: 9780393700541
Form and genre: Treatment Manual & Clinical Guide
Level: Intermediate
Historical era: 1980–2009 · Evidence-Based, Trauma & Integrative Era
Covers: Solution-focused conversations and case examples; Therapist and client collaboration; Computer-assisted analysis of therapy sessions
APA 7th reference: de Shazer, S. (1988). Clues: Investigating solutions in brief therapy. W. W. Norton & Company.
What it is
Clues: Investigating Solutions in Brief Therapy is a 1988 book by Steve de Shazer about the development of solutions in brief therapy. The publisher describes case examples and a computer-assisted way of analysing therapy sessions.
What it covers
The publisher describes conversations in which therapists and clients investigate what is working and consider ways to build on it. The book uses cases to illustrate the approach. The complete text was not reviewed for this entry. In contemporary solution-focused practice, the miracle question invites a person to imagine signs that a problem has been resolved; exception questions explore times when a difficulty was less present. This description is based on a practice institute’s guide, not on a reading of the 1988 book.
Practice and context
An earlier article by de Shazer, Insoo Kim Berg and colleagues describes the approach developed at the Brief Family Therapy Center. Its abstract situates that approach in relation to earlier brief therapy work. The abstract does not establish a particular success rate or show what will help an individual client.
Limits of this entry
This entry relies on the publisher’s description, a library catalogue, the 1986 article’s abstract and a contemporary practice guide. The full book and article were not reviewed. Specific accounts of the miracle question’s origin, decision rules and outcome statistics require further checking.
Paired academic and clinical scholarship
Paired work: Brief Therapy: Focused Solution Development (Steve de Shazer, Insoo Kim Berg, Eve Lipchik, Elam Nunnally, Alex Molnar, Wallace Gingerich, and Michele Weiner-Davis, 1986)
Reference: de Shazer, S., Berg, I. K., Lipchik, E., Nunnally, E., Molnar, A., Gingerich, W., & Weiner-Davis, M. (1986). Brief therapy: Focused solution development. Family Process, 25(2), 207–221.
A 1986 article by the Brief Family Therapy Center team describes its approach to brief therapy. The abstract does not report a 1,600-case outcome study.
Source-mapped claims and evidence notes
Claim 1: The publisher describes case examples and a computer analysis of therapy sessions in Clues. (The publisher description was read; the complete book was not reviewed.) [Source 1: W. W. Norton & Company. Clues: Investigating solutions in brief therapy. Publisher record.]
Claim 2: A 1986 article by de Shazer, Berg and colleagues describes the approach developed at the Brief Family Therapy Center. (The abstract was read. It does not establish the size or outcomes of a 1,600-case study.) [Source 3: de Shazer, S., Berg, I. K., Lipchik, E., Nunnally, E., Molnar, A., Gingerich, W., & Weiner-Davis, M. (1986). Brief therapy: Focused solution development. Family Process, 25(2), 207–221.]
Sources and inspection notes
W. W. Norton & Company. Clues: Investigating solutions in brief therapy. Publisher record.
Supports: Author, 1988 publication, paperback ISBN, case examples and publisher description of computer-assisted analysis; the full book was not read.
CiNii Research. Clues: Investigating solutions in brief therapy. Catalogue record.
Supports: Author, title, 1988 date and ISBN-10 0393700542, corresponding to the publisher’s ISBN-13.
Supports: The abstract describes the Brief Family Therapy Center’s approach and its relationship to earlier brief therapy; the full article was not read.
Solution-Focused Therapy Institute. What is solution-focused therapy?
Supports: Contemporary description of exception questions and the miracle question. It does not establish their origin or the contents of the 1988 book.