Steve de Shazer (June 25, 1940,

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

– September 11, 2005,

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

) was a

psychotherapist Psychotherapy (also psychological therapy, talk therapy, or talking therapy) is the use of psychological methods, particularly when based on regular personal interaction, to help a person change behavior, increase happiness, and overcome pro ...

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

, and developer and pioneer of

solution focused brief therapy Solution-focused (brief) therapy (SFBT) is a goal-directed collaborative approach to psychotherapeutic change that is conducted through direct observation of clients' responses to a series of precisely constructed questions. Based upon social c ...

. In 1978, he founded the Brief Family Therapy Center (BFTC) in

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...

with his wife

Insoo Kim Berg Insoo Kim Berg (25 July 1934 – 10 January 2007) was a Korean-born American psychotherapist who was a pioneer of solution focused brief therapy. Biography Berg was born and raised in Seoul, Korea. She was a pharmacy major at Ewha Womans Unive ...

. De Shazer was originally trained as a classical musician and worked as a jazz saxophonist. He received a Bachelor in Fine Arts and an MSSW in Social Work from the

University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee The University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee (UW–Milwaukee, UWM, or Milwaukee) is a public urban research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It is the largest university in the Milwaukee metropolitan area and a member of the University of Wiscons ...

. He never studied at the

Mental Research Institute The Palo Alto Mental Research Institute (MRI) is one of the founding institutions of brief and family therapy.Nichols, M., & Schwartz, R. (2005). ''Family Therapy: Concepts and Methods'' (7th Edition), New York City: Prentice Hall. Founded by Don ...

in Palo Alto,

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, even though some rumours have it he did. De Shazer wrote six books and was translated into 14 languages. He was a lifelong friend of

John Weakland John H. Weakland (8 January 1919 – 18 July 1995) was one of the founders of brief and family psychotherapy. At the time of his death, he was a senior research fellow at the Mental Research Institute (MRI) in Palo Alto, California, co-director of t ...

, whom he saw as his mentor. De Shazer died in Vienna while traveling on a training and consulting tour in Europe. De Shazer has a nephew, Tony de Shazer and two great nieces Elodie and Amelie de Shazer.

Solution-focused heritage

Solution-Focused Brief Therapy

In 1978, de Shazer and

co-founded the Brief Family Therapy Center (BFTC) in Milwaukee. With this move, the couple are recognized as the primary developers of

solution-focused brief therapy Solution-focused (brief) therapy (SFBT) is a goal-directed collaborative approach to Psychotherapy, psychotherapeutic change that is conducted through direct observation of clients' responses to a series of precisely constructed questions. Based u ...

, which emerged from research they conducted at the BFTC in the 1980s, building upon studies conducted at the Mental Research Institute. BFTC served as a research center to study, develop, and test techniques of psychotherapy to find those that are most efficient and effective with clients. The team at BFTC was very diverse, with practitioners with various backgrounds, educations, and academic disciplines. Besides mental health professionals, the team included educators, sociologists, linguists, and even engineers and philosophers. Steve de Shazer, the director of BFTC, referred to this group as a "therapeutic think tank". Over time people began to request training, so BFTC became a research and training center.

Solution-Focused Applied Psychology (SoFAP)

Alongside the popular development of the practical application of solution-focused therapy, its theoretic foundation has been the topic of research in an academic context. The academic discipline of Solution-Focused Applied Psychology (SoFAP) uses the methodology offered by

design science A concept of design science was introduced in 1957 by R. Buckminster Fuller who defined it as a systematic form of designing. He expanded on this concept in his ''World Design Science Decade'' proposal to the International Union of Architects in 196 ...

to investigate the epistemology that underlies the application of the solution-focused approach. In intuitive form, this approach was originally recognized in the practice of Dr. Milton H. Erickson and subsequently concretized by de Shazer and Berg, particularly in de Shazer's book ''Patterns of Brief Family Therapy: An Ecosystemic Approach.''

References

External links

Brief Family Therapy Center

Social Construction Therapy OnlineInterview with Steve de Shazer and Insoo Kim Berg
MRI/BFTC conference The Global Reach Of Brief Therapy, Sunny Vale CA, 26–27 August 1994. {{DEFAULTSORT:De Shazer, Steve 1940 births 2005 deaths American psychology writers American male non-fiction writers American psychotherapists Family therapists Writers from Milwaukee University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee alumni 20th-century American male writers