Solution-Focused Therapy
Solution-focused brief therapy (SFBT) is a practical therapeutic approach that helps you build on your strengths to create meaningful change, often in fewer sessions than traditional models. Rather than spending extended time analyzing problems, SFBT centers on what's already working in your life and how to do more of it.
At The Hinterlands, we offer solution-focused therapy that honors your autonomy, resilience, and capacity for growth. Our psychotherapists collaborate with you to clarify goals, notice subtle shifts, and amplify small successes that move you toward the life you want. We understand that each person’s version of progress looks different, and we trust you to define your own path forward.
We currently offer virtual SFBT sessions for clients in Illinois & Connecticut and in-person sessions in Irving Park, Chicago. Hybrid SFBT sessions are also available.
Areas of Clinical Specialty
LGBTQIA+: We offer affirming, goal-oriented therapy for LGBTQIA+ clients. Our queer therapists work with you to identify what’s already helping you feel more grounded, authentic, or connected—and build on those foundations to move toward the life you want. We focus on resilience, not just survival, and uplift your existing strengths in navigating identity, discrimination, dysphoria, and chosen family.
ENM/Poly Folks: We offer affirming SFBT for individuals and relationships practicing ethical non-monogamy or polyamory. Together, we focus on what’s already working in your relationships and how to grow clarity, communication, and connection. Our goal is not to "fix" problems, but to help you move confidently toward the relational life that aligns with your values.
BDSM/Kink Community: Our kink-aware SFBT therapists recognize BDSM and kink as valid forms of expression, identity, and intimacy. Through a solution-focused lens, we highlight the existing strengths in your relational dynamics and help you work toward affirming, consent-based goals, free from pathologization or shame.
Immigrants/Refugees: For immigrants, refugees, and first-generation individuals, we offer culturally responsive SFBT that centers your agency. We’ll work together to clarify what healing, belonging, or stability looks like to you and build on the skills and wisdom you already carry from navigating complex transitions, identities, and systems.
Substance Use: We approach substance use with compassion, curiosity, and a harm-reduction mindset. Whether you're exploring sobriety, moderation, or reimagining your relationship to substances, our solution-focused therapy helps you identify what’s already supporting your well-being—and how to expand those moments into lasting change.
Chronic Illness/HIV: Living with chronic illness or HIV involves ongoing adaptation and strength. In our SFBT work, we center your expertise in your own body and care needs. We’ll focus on what’s working, what brings relief, and what kind of life you want to shape around your capacities, not in spite of them.
Autism/ADHD/Neuroqueer: We affirm neurodivergence as a natural expression of human diversity. Our SFBT therapists help you define goals that matter to you, not neurotypical standards. Whether you're seeking to reduce overwhelm, deepen relationships, or move through the world more freely, we focus on solutions that honor your communication style, sensory needs, and authenticity.
Multi-Cultural/Mixed-Race: Navigating multiple cultural identities can be complex. Our BIPOC therapists support you in exploring how you want to show up in the world, what forms of belonging already serve you, and what stories you want to amplify about your experience.
Artists/Performers/Craftsfolk: Creative life comes with its pressures, rhythms, and doubts. Solution-focused therapy supports artists in identifying what's already fueling their work—and how to reconnect with purpose, flow, or rest when needed. Many of our therapists bring lived experience from the arts and understand its unique emotional terrain.
Religious/Spiritual Trauma: If you're unpacking religious or spiritual trauma, our therapists help clarify what healing looks like for you: grief, meaning-making, reclamation, or letting go. We’ll focus on small, powerful steps that reflect your evolving relationship to faith, spirituality, and personal truth.
Parenting: Parenting is layered and demanding. We utilize goal-oriented therapy to help caregivers find what’s already working in their parenting approach, even if it feels hard to see. Whether you’re navigating identity shifts, co-parenting dynamics, or raising neurodivergent kids, we’ll co-create goals that reflect your values and capacity.
Educators: We support teachers and school staff in navigating burnout, emotional labor, and systemic barriers. Together, we’ll identify what sustains you in your work and how to realistically reconnect with purpose, boundaries, or rest.
Activists: Activism can be life-giving and exhausting. Our Chicago psychotherapists help to define your vision of sustainable engagement, centering on what already gives you energy or hope. Whether you’re seeking SFBT for anxiety, grief, or stress, our work is about resourcing and reconnecting to your values.
Mad/Crip Folks: We offer goal-oriented therapy for Mad/Crip clients seeking care outside of oppressive medical frameworks. Our disability-affirming psychotherapists support you in identifying what’s already helping you survive, and where you might want to shift, reclaim, or rest. We provide clinical documentation as needed, with transparency and respect for your autonomy.
What to Expect
No two therapy sessions look the same, but in solution-focused therapy, we begin by exploring what’s already working in your life, even if it may feel insignificant. We’ll take time to understand your values, culture, neurotype, and lived experience, while staying grounded in your hopes for the future. Rather than digging into what’s wrong, SFBT focuses on what’s possible—highlighting your strengths and the steps that move you closer to your desired outcomes.
In our first SFBT session, we’ll identify what brings you to therapy and begin to shape clear, achievable goals. You’ll get a feel for your therapist’s style and how they collaborate, while they learn more about your unique needs and preferences. We’ll also review scheduling, payment, and office policies. Most importantly, we aim to help you feel respected and ready to take meaningful steps forward, on your terms.
SFBT FAQs
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Solution-focused brief therapy (SFBT) is adaptable and can address many concerns. It's often helpful for folks navigating anxiety, burnout, life transitions, creative blocks, parenting challenges, identity exploration, stress, or feeling generally stuck. Because goal-oriented therapy emphasizes what's already working and builds on your strengths, it's especially supportive when you're ready for movement, clarity, or renewed direction—even if you're not sure exactly what that looks like yet.
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If you're looking for a collaborative, present-focused therapy that emphasizes action and self-trust, SFBT might be a great fit. You don’t need to have all the answers—just a desire for something to shift. Solution-focused therapy is a good match for people who want to explore what’s possible, notice what’s already helping (even in small ways), and take steps toward meaningful change. It can also be empowering for folks who are burned out on pathologizing or past-focused models and are curious about what healing looks like on their own terms.
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Yes. The psychotherapists at The Hinterlands are in-network with Blue Cross Blue Shield PPO and Aetna. We are out-of-network with all other insurance providers, including Medicaid and Medicare. Payment is due at the time of service.
If you're using out-of-network benefits, we’re happy to provide monthly superbills and statements to support your reimbursement process. We accept HSA cards, Zelle, and all major credit cards for payment.
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We are committed to providing affordable SFBT to our community. We offer a range of cash-pay options, including sliding scale therapy sessions. These rates are based on therapist availability and the type of treatment, and typically range from $25 to the full session fee.
Sliding scale slots are limited and tend to fill quickly. During your intake call, you can ask your therapist whether they currently have sliding scale availability.