Table Of ContentPromoting Change
Through
Paradoxical Therapy
Revised Edition
Edited by
Gerald R. Weeks, PH. D.
BRUNNER/MAZEL, Publishers •NEWYORK
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Promoting change through paradoxical therapy / edited by Gerald R.
Weeks.—Rev. ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-87630-645-8
1. Paradoxical psychotherapy. I. Weeks, Gerald R.,
[DNLM: 1. Psychological Theory. 2. Psychotherapy—methods. WM
420P9655]
RC489.P37P76 1991
616.89'14—dc20
DLC
for Library of Congress 91-10961
CIP
Copyright © 1985 by Dow Jones-Irwin
Copyright © 1991 by Brunner/Mazel, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be
reproduced by any process whatsoever without
the written permission of the copyright owner.
Published by
BRUNNER/MAZEL, INC.
19 Union Square West
New York, New York 10003
Manufactured in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 32
Contents
Contributors vii
Preface ix
Part One Introduction
1. A Delphi Study of Paradox in
Therapy 2
by Christine Watson, Ph.D.
Part Two Approaches to Paradoxical Intervention
2. Unpredictability and Change: A Holographic
Metaphor 28
by Brian W. Cade, CSW
3. Beyond Paradox and Counterparadox 60
by Klaus G. Deissler, Diplompsychologe
4. Paradoxical Intention 99
by Viktor E. Frankl, M.D., Ph.D.
5. Paradoxical Techniques: One Level of
Abstraction in Family Therapy Ill
by Luciano L'Abate, Ph.D.
6. Ericksonian Styles of Paradoxical Treatment 134
by Stephen R. Lankton, MSW, and Carol H. Lankton, MA
7. Paradox in Context 187
by Howard Tennen, Ph.D., Joseph B. Eron, Psy.D.,
and Michael Rohrbaugh, Ph.D.
v
Vl CONTENTS
Part Three Research on Paradoxical Techniques
8. An Introduction to Research on the Clinical
Efficacy of Paradoxical Intention 216
by Ray S. Kim, MA, James Poling, MA, and
L. Michael Ascher, Ph.D.
Part Four Future Directions
9. The Mysterious Affair of Paradoxes and Loops 252
by Steve de Shazer and Elam Nunnally
10. Contradiction and Its Resolution among
the Psychotherapies: Results of a
Preliminary Investigation 271
by Michael J. Bopp, Ph.D.
11. A Metatheory of Paradox 302
by Gerald R. Weeks, Ph.D.
Index 317
Contributors
L. Michael Ascher, Ph.D. Professor and Director of the Behavior
Therapy Unit, Department of Psychiatry, Temple University
Medical School, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Michael J. Bopp, Ph.D. Private practitioner in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania.
Brian W. Cade, C.S.W. Family Therapist and Course Organizer at
the Family Institute, Cardiff, Wales.
Steve de Shazer Associate Professor at the School of Social Welfare,
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and Director of the Brief
Family Therapy Center. Steve de Shazer is the author of Patterns
of Brief Family Therapy (Guilford Press, 1982).
Klaus G. Deissler, Diplompsychologe. Co-founder and Director of
the Institut fur Familientherapie Marburg. Dr. Deissler was
founding member of the German Association of Family Therapy,
editor of Kontext, and an editorial board member of
Familiendynamik.
Joseph B. Eron, Psy.D. Director of the Catskill Family Institute in
Kingston, New York, and a family therapist in private practice.
He received his doctorate in psychology at the University of
Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. Dr. Eron is a clinical faculty
member at Albany Medical College, Mt. Sinai Medical Center,
and Beth Israel Medical Center.
Viktor E. Frankl, M.D., Ph.D. Professor of neurology and
psychiatry at the University of Vienna Medical School and
distinguished professor of logotherapy at the United States
International University (San Diego). Dr. Frankl is the author of
26 books that have been translated into numerous languages,
including Japanese and Chinese.
Ray S. Kim, M.A., Ph.D. candidate, Department of Psychology,
Division of Clinical Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania.
Luciano LAbate, Ph.D. Former Professor and Director of the Family
vii
Vtii CONTRIBUTORS
Psychology Program at Georgia State University. Dr. L'Abate has
authored numerous books and articles, including Paradoxical
Psychotherapy with Gerald Weeks.
Carol H. Lankton, M.A. Private practitioner in Florida. She
conducts workshops on Ericksonian Therapy throughout the
world. She is the co-author of several books and articles that
describe the use of Ericksonian psychotherapy with families,
children, and adults.
Stephen R. Lankton, M.S.W. Private practitioner in Florida. He
conducts workshops on Ericksonian therapy throughout the
world. He is founding editor of The Ericksonian Monographs and
author or co-author of several books and articles that describe
the use of Ericksonian psychotherapy with families, children,
and adults.
Elam Nunnally Staff member at the Brief Family Therapy Center in
Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
James Poling, M.A., Ph.D. candidate, Department of Psychology,
Division of Clinical Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania.
Michael Rohrbaugh, Ph.D. Associate professor of psychology,
College of William and Mary, and Director of Family Therapy
Training for the Virginia Consortium for Professional
Psychology.
Howard Tennen, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the
University of Connecticut School of Medicine, where he is
director of psychology training. He received his graduate
training at the University of Massachusetts. His research
interests include responses to uncontrollable stress, coping with
serious illness, and the role of paradox in strategic therapy.
Christine Watson, Ph.D. Private practitioner in Houston, Texas.
Gerald R. Weeks, Ph.D. Director of Training, Marriage Council of
Philadelphia; and Clinical Associate Professor of Psychology and
Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.
Preface
A few years ago paradox in psychotherapy was used by only a few
practitioners. Many perceived it as strange, noncommonsensical,
and too directive. Yet it was powerfully attractive because of its
sometimes rapid and dramatic effects. When paradox is used
adeptly, the results have been so startling that early practitioners—
and some of the more recent ones—have been called "therapeutic
magicians."
Following the publication of the book Paradoxical Psychotherapy:
Theory and Practice with Individuals, Couples, and Families (Weeks &
L'Abate, 1982, Brunner/Mazel, New York), a keen interest in this
approach developed. In Paradoxical Psychotherapy we attempted to
demystify the approach by explicating the different methods of
working paradoxically. Shortly after the book's publication, several
others appeared, which focused directly or indirectly on this
approach.
The psychotherapeutic field was and is rich with excitement,
controversy, and new ideas about the application of paradoxical
methods. Many of those writing about this approach did so in the
context of other therapies such as logotherapy and behavior
therapy.
The purpose of this volume is to bring together the writings of
a number of well-known therapists who are pioneers of this
approach. Although this book was originally published in 1985,
and the editor acknowledges that the subsequent writings of the
authors show further reprimand, elaboration, and development,
the basic theories and conceptual frameworks are timeless in their
capacities to teach.
The book is divided into four parts. Part One asks the question,
What is paradoxical therapy? It examines the issue of what we
claim to do—how we define a therapeutic paradox.
Part Two is the theoretical section of the volume. Contributors
describe their own theories of paradoxical therapy, which is a
unique focus considering that most of the literature in this field
ix
