Solution-focused hypnotherapy

Domain VI · Brief, integrative, trauma, hypnosis & coaching · David Newton · 1990 · UK

What it is

SFH is a brief talking therapy that combines solution-focused questioning with trance (hypnosis induced through guided relaxation). AfSFH credits three strands, which Newton combined into a structured framework in the early 1990s: Milton Erickson's client-centred use of anecdote and metaphor; the…

Format

• SFH is a session-by-session format, not a phased protocol. It has two kinds of meeting: an initial consultation, then a run of treatment sessions with a repeating two-part structure.
• An indication of the likely number of sessions, which depends on circumstances (AfSFH gives no fixed number).

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Version followed: the UK Solution Focused Hypnotherapy (SFH) model credited to David Newton and taught by Clifton Practice Hypnotherapy Training (CPHT), as published by the Association for Solution Focused Hypnotherapy (AfSFH) and AfSFH practitioner material. Its solution-focused talking part is written up here from the SFBTA SFBT Treatment Manual for Working with Individuals, 3rd edition (2025), because that is the…
• Scope: this guide describes clinical use by a licensed psychotherapist who also holds hypnosis training within their competence. Stage hypnosis, covert induction and any technique designed to bypass consent are not part of this method and are excluded. SFH is not a memory-processing or trauma-exposure therapy, and it is never used to 'recover' memories.

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is there physical contact? Was it explained beforehand, and do you feel free to say no or stop at any point?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Does it involve intense or unusual breathing? Have you been told about the medical conditions for which that is not advised?
• Does it involve fasting, a special diet or 'detox'? Have you discussed this with your doctor?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• concrete behaviours that can become weekly steps.
• pressure to promise a fixed result. Make no guarantees.
• new or changing physical symptoms. Refer back to the GP.
• changes the client dismisses. Ask what they did to bring them about.
• fear of losing control. Offer a shorter, eyes-open or lighter first trance.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.