The BPS Approved Certificate in Resource Based Therapies brings together three complementary therapeutic approaches: Motivational Interviewing, Solution Focused Brief Therapy and Positive Psychotherapy. Although each has its own methods and areas of emphasis, they share important theoretical foundations and use brief, practical interventions to facilitate meaningful change.
Shared theoretical foundations
All three approaches are evidence based, with strong psychological and experimental foundations underpinning their theories, processes and interventions.
They are also resource based in their underlying assumptions. Rather than beginning with deficits, they focus on the strengths, abilities, motivation and psychological resources that clients already possess, and consider how these can be identified, developed and used to support change.
- Motivational Interviewing draws strongly on Rogers’ ideas about intrinsic motivation. It places clients’ own perceptions of the benefits and negative consequences of change at the centre of the therapeutic process.
- Solution Focused Brief Therapy concentrates on clients’ existing strengths, resources and preferred futures, rather than extensively analysing the origins of problems.
- Positive Psychology emphasises strengths, positive emotions, resilience and the psychological resources that support wellbeing and effective functioning.
As a result, all three approaches are outcome focused and future focused. They are concerned with helping clients move towards meaningful goals and greater wellbeing, rather than concentrating primarily on deficits, causes or past difficulties.
All three approaches also use brief and practical interventions that can be integrated into therapeutic work to facilitate meaningful and sustainable change.
What this Certificate offers
- A structured pathway bringing together three complementary therapeutic models
- Evidence-based approaches to strengthening motivation and facilitating change
- Practical methods for identifying and developing clients’ existing strengths and resources
- Outcome-focused and future-focused ways of working
- Brief therapeutic interventions that can be integrated into existing practice
- A Certificate approved through the BPS CPD Quality Mark Scheme
Module overview
Motivational Interviewing & Beyond
This module explores Motivational Interviewing as a collaborative, person-centred approach designed to strengthen clients’ intrinsic motivation for change. It examines the theoretical foundations and key processes of Motivational Interviewing, alongside practical strategies for working with ambivalence and supporting change.
Solution Focused Brief Therapy
This module introduces the core principles and practices of Solution Focused Brief Therapy. It focuses on building solutions rather than analysing problems, helping clients identify existing strengths, resources and preferred futures through focused and pragmatic interventions.
Positive Psychotherapy: Supercharge Your Practice
This module draws on Positive Psychology to explore how strengths, positive emotions and adaptive functioning can be integrated into therapeutic practice. It emphasises the role of clients’ existing resources in supporting resilience, wellbeing and sustainable change.
