When a person develops sufficiently powerful narratives about himself or the world, information that contradicts such narratives gets ignored while information that supports them acquires additional weight. If those narratives are negative enough, they can lead to psychological distress. Put simply, narrative therapists believe that the human mind not only interprets reality but also constructs it.

Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) straddles the worlds of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and coaching. Just like CBT, SFBT is an evidence-based psychotherapeutic modality, which means there is authoritative research confirming its efficacy. When deployed without a specialized license, disconnected from a specific mental-health diagnosis, and not paid for via insurance, SFBT, in effect, becomes coaching.