Name of Concept
Paradoxical Directive
Synonyms
Invariant prescription; Paradoxical intervention; Prescribing the symptom
Introduction
The Webster dictionary definition of the word “paradox” is “a statement that is seemingly contradictory or opposed to common sense and yet is perhaps true.” Many think paradox is something mysterious. Actually, everyday life is peppered with paradoxical statements. “You have to spend money to make money,” “I spank you because I love you,” “Less is more,” and “It has to get worse before it gets better,” are just a few examples. As one can see, these statements put two contradicting elements in one statement. At first glance, these statements do not make sense, yet to give it a thought, they are sort of true.
Paradoxical Directive is one of the hall mark interventions in Strategic Family Therapy. Strategic family therapists are interested in generating changes in behavior and solve specific problems. They are known to design novel intervention strategies...
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Haley, J. (1987). Problem-solving therapy (2nd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.
Nichols, M., & Schwartz, R. C. (1991). Family therapy: Concepts and methods (2nd ed.). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Watzlawick, P., Beavin, J. H., & Jackson, D. D. (1967). Pragmatics of human communication: A study of interactional patterns, pathologies and paradoxes. New York: W. W. Norton.
Watzlawick, P., Weakland, J., & Fish, R. (1974). Change: Principles of problem formation and problem resolution. New York: W. W. Norton.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Section Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Wang, L. (2019). Paradoxical Directive in Couple and Family Therapy. In: Lebow, J.L., Chambers, A.L., Breunlin, D.C. (eds) Encyclopedia of Couple and Family Therapy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49425-8_320
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49425-8_320
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-49423-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-49425-8
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences