- Topic Areas:
- Invited Address
- Category:
- Evolution of Psychotherapy | Evolution of Psychotherapy 1995
- Faculty:
- Paul Watzlawick, PhD | James F. Masterson, MD
- Duration:
- 1 Hour 28 Minutes
- Format:
- Audio Only
- Original Program Date :
- Dec 16, 1995
Description
Description:
Invited Address Session 8 Part 1 from the Evolution of Psychotherapy 1995 – Insight May Cause Blindness
Featuring Paul Watzlawick, PhD, with discussant James Masterson, MD.
Moderated by Janet Edgette, PsyD.
The traditional assumption that only insight into the causes in the past can bring about a change in the present makes us blind for what Alexander & French called “the corrective emotional experience,” i.e., chance events in the present that may lead to almost immediate solutions. A great number of Erickson’s surprising results could be considered the outcome of “planned chance events,” often in the form of behavior prescriptions similar to interventions in hypnotherapy (e.g., “speaking the clients’s language,” prescribing resistance, the use of reframing, paradoxical interventions, etc.).
Educational Objectives:
- To show that the claim that insight into the causes in the past can bring about a change in the present is an unproven and unprovable assumption.
- Describe different assumptions and techniques with a view toward an appreciation of their practical usefulness.
- To facilitate the acceptance of these perspectives as part of the personal evolution of an individual therapist.
*Sessions may be edited for content and to preserve confidentiality*
