Insoo Kim Berg (25 July 1934 – 10 January 2007) was a Korean-born American

psychotherapist Psychotherapy (also psychological therapy, talk therapy, or talking therapy) is the use of Psychology, psychological methods, particularly when based on regular Conversation, personal interaction, to help a person change behavior, increase hap ...

and

social worker Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social wo ...

who was a pioneer of

solution focused brief therapy Solution-focused (brief) therapy (SFBT) is a goal-directed collaborative approach to psychotherapeutic change that is conducted through direct observation of clients' responses to a series of precisely constructed questions. Based upon social con ...

Biography

Berg was born and raised in

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

. She was a pharmacy major at

Ewha Womans University Ewha Womans University () is a private women's research university in Seoul, South Korea. It was originally founded as Ewha Haktang on May 31, 1886, by missionary Mary F. Scranton. Currently, Ewha Womans University is one of the world's largest f ...

in Seoul. In 1957, she travelled to the United States after her marriage to Charles Berg, to continue her studies. With her background in pharmacy, she worked as a tech, then worked in an animal lab, and worked with a guy who did stomach cancer research. She continued her studies in pharmacy and science because that is what her parents wanted, but then realized she could pick whatever she wanted, so went into social work. She began her studies at

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

in 1960, earning undergraduate and graduate degrees in social work. She subsequently began her social work practice in Milwaukee. Berg and her first husband, Charles, divorced in 1972. They have a daughter, Sarah K. Berg. Berg completed post-graduate studies at the Family Institute of Chicago, the

Menninger Foundation The Menninger Foundation was founded in 1919 by the Menninger family in Topeka, Kansas. The Menninger Foundation, known locally as Menninger's, consists of a clinic, a sanatorium, and a school of psychiatry, all of which bear the Menninger name ...

in Kansas, and the

Mental Research Institute The Palo Alto Mental Research Institute (MRI) is one of the founding institutions of brief and family therapy.Nichols, M., & Schwartz, R. (2005). ''Family Therapy: Concepts and Methods'' (7th Edition), New York City: Prentice Hall. Founded by D ...

(MRI) in

Palo Alto, California Palo Alto ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a charter city in northwestern Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. Th ...

. At the MRI she also met her future husband,

Steve de Shazer Steve de Shazer (June 25, 1940, Milwaukee – September 11, 2005, Vienna) was a psychotherapist, author, and developer and pioneer of solution focused brief therapy. In 1978, he founded the Brief Family Therapy Center (BFTC) in Milwaukee, Wi ...

. She and Steve married in June 1977. Berg died on January 10, 2007, in Milwaukee, at the age of 72.

Solution-focused heritage

Solution-focused brief therapy

In 1978, Berg and de Shazer co-founded the Brief Family Therapy Center (BFTC) in Milwaukee. Berg was the executive director and a clinician at the BFTC. Berg and de Shazer are recognized as the primary developers of

solution-focused brief therapy Solution-focused (brief) therapy (SFBT) is a goal-directed collaborative approach to psychotherapeutic change that is conducted through direct observation of clients' responses to a series of precisely constructed questions. Based upon social con ...

, which emerged from research they conducted at the BFTC in the 1980s, building upon studies conducted at the Mental Research Institute. Berg led training workshops on solution-focused therapy in countries around the world, including Japan, South Korea, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Russia, Israel, Australia, Singapore, United Kingdom, France, Switzerland and Germany. She authored a number of books on solution-focused approaches to therapy. Her books include Interviewing for Solutions (with Peter De Jong), Brief Coaching for Lasting Solutions, Family Based Services:A Solution Based Approach, Children's Solution Work (with Therese Steiner), Working with the Problem Drinker (with Scott D. Miller), Tales of Solution (with Yvonne Dolan), Building Solutions in Child Protective Services (with Susan Kelly), Solutions Step by Step:A Substance Abuse Treatment Manual (with Norman H. Ruess), and Brief Coaching for Lasting Solutions (with Peter Szabo).

Works

* Berg, Insoo Kim, and Scott Miller. ''Working with the Problem Drinker: A Solution-focused Approach''. New York: Norton, 1992. * Berg, Insoo Kim, ''Family-based Services: A Solution-focused Approach''. New York: Norton, 1994. * Berg, Insoo Kim & Susan Kelly. ''Building Solutions in Child Protective Services''. New York: Norton, 2000. * Berg, Insoo Kim & Yvonne M. Dolan. ''Tales of Solutions: A Collection of Hope-inspiring Stories''. New York: Norton, 2001. * Berg, Insoo Kim & Peter Szabó. ''Brief Coaching for Lasting Solutions''. 2005. * Berg, Insoo Kim & Therese Steiner. "Children's Solution Work". New York: Norton, 2003. * Berg, Insoo Kim & Norman H. Reuss. "Solutions Step by Step: A Substance Abuse Treatment Manual. New York: Norton, 1998. * De Jong, Peter & Insoo Kim Berg. ''Interviewing for Solutions''(4th ed.) Pacific Grove, Calif.: Brooks/Cole, 2012.

References

External links