Meta-Analysis of Solution-Focused Brief Therapy for Treating Symptoms of Internalizing Disorders

We evaluated the effectiveness of solution-focused brief therapy (SFBT) for treating symptoms of internalizing disorders with youth and adults across 26 between-group studies representing the data of 2,968 participants. Separate meta-analytic procedures for studies implementing waitlist/no treatment (n = 1,342) or alternative treatments (n = 1,626) yielded modest effect sizes for SFBT when treating internalizing disorders. Limitations of our findings and implications for counselors are discussed.