In her 1989 article, Of Visitors, Complainants, and Customers, Insoo Kim Berg details

three different types of “client-therapist relationships” (p. 21). Her wording is

significant, because she is not labeling clients; she is describing them in terms of their
relationship to the therapist, the process of therapy, and the problem. These three
relationships have undergirded Solution-Focused Brief Therapy theory and
interventions over the years, although they are not consistently discussed in newer
works.

1 | The Visitor
The visitor often comes to therapy at another’s request. Some examples of a visitor
include a child who’s brought to therapy by his parents, a wife who begins therapy at
her husband’s insistence, or an employee who’s referred to therapy in order to keep her
job. The main characteristics of the visitor relationship to therapy is that the visitor
isn’t invested in change. He is willing to attend therapy, but this is most likely in order
to please another. He may be willing to change, but not from personal motivation.

2 | The Complainant
The complainant is very aware of the problem and is affected by it, but she doesn’t see
herself as contributing to the problem or its solution. The complainant is burdened by
the problem, but she may see the solution as resting outside her influence. The
complainant’s relationship to therapy is one of compliance--she will attend therapy in
order to describe the problem, her frustrations with the problem, as well as those
persons contributing to the problem; however, she is not yet able to see how her
behavior could alleviate the problem.

3 | The Customer
The customer is the therapist’s ideal client type. The customer is ready and willing to
solve the problem. He is aware of both his contribution to the problem and its solution
and is invested in addressing his behavior. The customer will consider new ideas and be
open to new ways of solving the problem. The customer’s relationship to therapy goes
beyond compliance to one of active participation and collaboration.