Crafting the "tap on the shoulder:" A compliment template for solution-focused therapy

Based upon their experience working in a community mental-health clinic using solution-focused brief therapy, the authors describe a template for developing compliments. With most people, the family is a central part of their social system and therefore key to solution building. The authors have found the template particularly helpful in promoting solution building within the family system and therefore a very useful component in family therapy. This article explores the five components of the template that they have found helpful in developing feedback and includes case examples. Featured in the article is a full transcript of compliment feedback from a family-therapy session.