Download PDF “Finding Solutions: How Traders Can Become Their Own Therapists”
Source: Brett N. Steenbarger
Brett Steenbarger is a clinical psychologist and active trader whose work on trading psychology has been widely cited across the systematic trading community. His book The Psychology of Trading is among the most recommended resources for traders who want to understand the specific psychological patterns that interfere with systematic execution. The “Finding Solutions” paper applies a solution-focused therapeutic framework directly to common trading problems.
The solution-focused approach Steenbarger draws on is distinct from traditional problem-focused therapeutic models. Rather than analyzing the origins and causes of problematic trading behavior in depth, the solution-focused approach identifies what the trader is already doing correctly and builds on those existing strengths. The question is not “why do I keep overriding my system?” but “when have I followed my system correctly, and what was different about those situations?” The answer to the second question is actionable. The answer to the first question often produces useful insight but not immediate behavioral change.
Applied to systematic trend following, this framework is particularly relevant because the psychological challenges of systematic trading are specific and well-defined. They are not general anxiety or depression requiring deep therapeutic work. They are specific behavioral patterns: overriding valid entry signals, exiting winners early, holding losers past the stop, increasing size after wins, decreasing size after losses. Each of these occurs in identifiable circumstances and each of which the trader has, at some point, not done. The solution-focused approach asks: what was different about the times you took the valid signal? What was different about the times you held the winner to the exit rule? Those differences contain the information needed to replicate the correct behavior.
Steenbarger also addresses the role of self-observation in trading improvement. Most traders evaluate their performance by outcomes: did the trade make money? The self-observation that supports behavioral improvement evaluates the process: was the entry taken according to the rules? Was the position sized correctly? Was the exit taken at the defined level? Process-based self-observation produces the information needed to identify specific behavioral problems and their circumstances. Outcome-based self-observation produces only the emotional experience of winning and losing, which reinforces the very patterns that undermine systematic trading.
The “becoming your own therapist” formulation reflects Steenbarger’s view that most trading psychology issues are not clinical problems requiring professional intervention. They are normal human responses to financial pressure and uncertainty that can be addressed through structured self-observation, deliberate practice, and the application of specific behavioral techniques. The trader who understands what triggers their system overrides, who has identified the circumstances in which they follow the rules correctly, and who has built practices that replicate those circumstances is doing the self-therapeutic work that the paper describes.
This connects directly to TurtleTrader’s overall framework: the rules are the solution. The psychological work is not separate from the trading work. It is the work of understanding one’s own responses well enough to build and follow the rules that override those responses in real-time trading conditions.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the solution-focused approach to trading psychology?
A therapeutic framework that focuses on what the trader is already doing correctly and builds on those existing strengths, rather than analyzing the causes of problematic behavior in depth. Instead of asking why a trader overrides their system, the solution-focused approach asks when they have followed the system correctly and what was different about those situations. This shifts from insight to action and produces immediately applicable guidance for replicating successful trading behavior.
How does process-based self-observation improve trading performance?
By identifying specific behavioral patterns and their circumstances rather than producing only the emotional experience of winning and losing. A trader who evaluates each session by whether the rules were followed correctly accumulates information about which specific rules are most frequently violated, under what circumstances, and with what trigger conditions. This information makes the problem concrete and addressable. Outcome-based evaluation produces frustration or confidence without behavioral information.
Who is Brett Steenbarger and why is his work relevant to systematic traders?
Brett Steenbarger is a clinical psychologist and active trader whose work bridges clinical psychology and trading practice. His book The Psychology of Trading is one of the most-cited resources in systematic trading communities for its practical application of behavioral techniques to trading-specific psychological patterns. The “Finding Solutions” paper applies a specific therapeutic framework, solution-focused brief therapy, to the common psychological challenges of trading, making it directly relevant to anyone who has built a sound system but struggles to follow it consistently.
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