This article describes the efficacy of two family-oriented, outpatient drug interventions for 84 adolescents who had used and abused drugs. Together, the two brief drug interventions appeared to significantly reduce the drug use of nearly one-half of the adolescentts who received the two family-focused drug interventions. It is surmised that this slccess was due partly to the fact that both outpatient interventions focus on the sxystemic treatment of entire familv groups rather than being given to the adolescents as inidiv iduals. WVheti comnpared, however the family therapy intervention appears to have been effectiv e itn reducing drug use for a greater percentage of the adolescents than did the familv education intervention.

Steve de Shazer who, along with Insoo Kim Berg, co-founded the Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) approach, recently passed away. In this article we will offer a brief biographical sketch and then discuss the current state of the art of SFBT as it applies to practice, training, and research. Future directions for SFBT, such as the emergence of professional associations, the increased research interest in SFBT as evidenced-based practice, the recent focus on process-research to determine the mechanisms of change within SFBT, and the application of SFBT to education are discussed.

The present study compared solution-focused group therapy (SFGT) with a traditional problem-focused treatment for level 1 substance abusers. Outcome research on the effectiveness of solution-focused group therapy is minimal, especially in treating substance abusers. In the present study, clients were measured before and after treatment to determine therapeutic effectiveness. Clients in the solution-focused group significantly improved on both the Beck Depression Inventory and the Outcome Questionnaire. The clients in the comparison group did not improve significantly on either measure. Therapist skill level and adherence to theoretical models were measured in each group to reduce confounding variables.

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