The objectives of this book might be summarized as (1) describing how brief, solution-focused therapy is different from other forms of therapy and their accompanying philosophical underpinnings, and (2) showing how these differences combine to make a difference that works. The first of these objectives is met by a simultaneous presentation and questioning of some of the conceptualizations of family therapy and some forms of brief therapy, their philosophical bases, and their limitations. The second objective is accomplished by showing the differences that this new view evolves when it is compared with the traditional ideas about the therapeutic encounter and the actual process of doing therapy. At minimum, therapy becomes reconceptualized as a conversation in which therapist and client work together - through language - to construct solutions.