I believe that Solution Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) [1] uses the concept of critical mass even though I cannot recall seeing the term referred to in any of the books that I have read on SFBT.
In focusing on solutions instead of problems, (as the medical diagnosis traditionally does), SFBT ensures that the client’s strengths will be affirmed by the client him/herself on an ongoing basis until they have more power than the problems and the solution becomes more the norm than the problem, so the practice of thinking about solutions becomes self-sustaining.
If I am a young man or woman growing up in a family in the Focus Group, and I am getting involved in at-risk behaviours – on a journey towards a life of chaos, crisis, addiction, crime and ultimately imprisonment – critical mass may be reached at some point where I form the belief, at a deep unconscious level, that self-destructive behaviour has become self-sustaining, and that there is no turning back, no matter how I might coach myself at a cognitive, conscious level to be better behaved to please others and have an easier life.
And – now for some good news – I propose that responsibility can reach critical mass if I am say, recovering from addiction. I reach a point where I am confident enough, (though not arrogant, which in fact comes from lack of confidence), that I can live a drug-free, life-affirming existence, and that there is no going back. (I have that feeling myself at this point in time as a former smoker, though it took me some years to get here).
I believe that this can also happen in a family (or any group of people, but more particularly a small group) as responsibility becomes the norm where previously the norm had been irresponsibility. (This belief is very important in the context of the principal aim of this website).
The important term to remember here is self-sustaining. This implies that a feedback loop of unconscious (or barely conscious) positive reinforcement of behaviour is enough to maintain the behaviour, as it (over time) becomes the norm. This is further explored below when we discuss uses and applications of chaos in Sub-Chapters 4.2.5 and 4.2.6.
[1]. It is important to note that in SFBT the word brief can refer to the duration of an encounter or the number of sessions offered.