From Strategizing to Nonintervention: Toward Irreverence in Systemic Practice*

Abstract

Within the field of marriage and family therapy, a debate has emerged regarding issues of control and noninstrumentality Concerned with the limitations inherent in the idea of power, many therpists/theoreticians have suggested the adoption of a less instrumental position. Oscillating processes, such as the swing from power to nonistrumentaliyth, are inevitable in the emergence of any discipline and are useful to the extent that these processes do not become so symmetrical that they induced rigidity in thinking. Therapists must be able to act unconstrictingly; However, they must also take responsibility for their actions. Believing too strongly in either strategizing or nonintervening in the therapeutic process can be constraining to say the least. This article will offer a new position called “irreverence” in the therapeutic process of systemic therapy.

The real as illusion: deconstructing power in family therapy

“…I n therapy, I 'put forward' ideas, interpretations, hunches, truths (for me), possible steps or strategies for change etc., as my way of knowing and making meaning but always as part of the therapeutic conversation. I always defer to the client's wisdom and knowledge in a simultaneous reverence and irreverence for theory (Cecchin et al, 1993). That is, my power to intervene, to know truth, is present, but suspended out of respect for the client's own narrative of events.…”

“…To deconstruct power is an ethical concern to transform therapeutic discourse into a narrative text which, like literature, prepares us for play and the unforeseen (Derrida, 1992). This is a play which is serious, a reverence inside the irreverence (Cecchin et al, 1993). O n the one hand you have curiosity, patience and humility, on the other, knowing, influence and power.…”

“…For Admundson and Stewart (1993)' the power, certainty and expertise of the therapist coexist with curiosity, a desire to empower and a 'moment-by-moment experience in the room' (p. 115). Cecchin et al (1993) talk of 'benign instrumentality' and advise that students receive initial training in interventive methods. Recently Pinsof ( 1994) has proposed integrating 'pure form' approaches to therapy based on principles like 'interactive constructivism': while objective reality exists, it is essentially unknowable.…”

Engagement and the Therapeutic Relationship in Systemic Therapy

“…Studies have appeared on intimacy (James and Kirkland, 1993;Weingarten, 1991Weingarten, , 1992, on empathy (Harari, 1996;Perry, 1993;Wilkinson, 1992), on emotion (Flaskas, 1989;Krause, 1993;Smith et al, 1990), on the therapist's use of self (Hildebrand and Speed, 1995;Hardham, 1996;Real, 1990), on the therapist's position in therapy (Anderson and Goolishian, 1992;Hoffman, 1993;Paterson, 1996), and on other issues surrounding the therapeutic relationship and the therapist-family system (Anderson, 1992;Cecchin et al, 1993;Flaskas, 1994;Flaskas and Perlesz, 1996b;Gibney, 1991;Gorrell Barnes and Henessy, 1995;Hedges and Lang, 1993;MacKinnon, 1993).…”

Science and Family Therapy

“…Avoid it, no; but they will modify it. It is unlikely that we will ever lose our belief in knowledge but we are starting to take a much less reverential attitude to it and to recognize how provisional it is (Cecchin et al, 1993;Larner, 1995). Although this may appear 'paramodern' (Larner, 1995), irreverence to knowledge claims is actually the hallmark of Popper's (1963) epistemology.…”