Them knowing the answers to their questions is helpful
For new visits/clients:
Beginning
How do you want things to be when this gets better? (What do you want?)
For follow-up visits:
So what’s better?
How did you manage?
How did you keep things from getting worse?
What’s Present and Working
On a scale of 1 to 10, if 10 is how you just described you wants things to be, and 1 is the worst you’ve imagined, where are you now?
What lets you know you’re here and not lower? (Why are you as high as you are?)
How are you doing it? How are you getting up to that number? What are you doing to get at that “#” or keep it at a “#” instead of lower?
What else are you doing to get you there? (Build on what’s there ☺)
Exception Q’s:
Do you ever have times you’re a little bit higher on that scale? If so, how do you do that? (What might have you done?)
“…times you’ve been a lot higher on that scale?...”
Coping Q’s:
“…times you’ve been lower? If so, how’d you turn it around to go back up?”
(Who would notice if things got better?) Where would your “enter person” rate you on our scale today? Why would they rate you there and not lower?
What’s Next, Immediate Future
Imagine it’s “enter number of days or weekend”, things are a little bit better, where would you hope to be on our scale?
What would be different (get a description) that would let you know that things are better?
How would you do it? How would you have done that?
What’s one tiny, tiny thing that you could do in the next 24 hours that would better the odds to get you to that higher number? (Of you eventually getting to this place?)
Having a script for SFBT is super handy as you're getting used to it, but the primary tool is more a mindset of unbiased, selfless curiousity, and of highlighting what's different: what does this person want? what does the journey look like? why?
Edgar Schein (Humble Consulting) would frame this as "avoiding content seduction"; in the therapy world, the same would be described as "don't get stuck in the story". The story is fascinating, but is it useful? (Usually not.)