Solution Focused Brief Therapy with Autistic Adults
A Development and Pilot Study
Autistic young adults experience high rates of anxiety, depression, and lower quality of life. They also face challenges in accessing appropriate behavioral health interventions. Despite the clear need, there is a notable gap in research on evidence-based behavioral health strategies tailored specifically for autistic adults. Solution-focused brief therapy (SFBT), with its strengths-based and goal-oriented framework, holds promise as a viable intervention for this population.
As a team of researchers, students, clinicians, and autistic self-advocates, we adapted the SFBT protocol for autistic adults, and developed and tested a new protocol called SOLVE. In our pilot study we found that participants engaged in all four sessions and reported feeling more empowered, had stronger motivation to achieve their goals, and had deeper insights into their autistic identity.
Our next phase of SOLVE is to train therapists to use the new SOLVE protocol to provide therapy to autistic adults, and then conduct a larger efficacy study to show evidence of its effectiveness. If you are a licensed therapist, or an autistic adult, stay tuned for these opportunities!
Project Leads
- Sandy Magaña, Ph.D., MSW
- Cynthia G. S. Franklin, Ph.D.