PADDLI NG I N THE SAME DI RECTI ON Dr Cathy Bettman Gehart (2014, - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

PADDLI NG I N THE SAME DI RECTI ON

Dr Cathy Bettman

navitas.com acap.edu.au

Gehart (2014, p. 135), Mastering Competencies in Family Therapy

• Just as in m arriage, in w hich a com m itm ent to one

person entails a com m itm ent to an entire fam ily, once you decide to com m it to a theory, you are also com m itting to the broader philosophy that is the theory’s foundation.

• I believe therapists w ho are clear about their

philosophy of w hat it m eans to be hum an ( ontology) and how people learn and change ( epistem ology) are best positioned to handle the variety of problem s w ith w hich skilled therapists m ust learn to w ork.

• Once you com m it yourself to a theory and philosophical

stance, it ironically becom es m uch easier to dance w ith

• thers.

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Bertrando (2007), The Dialogical Therapist: Dialogue in Systemic Practice Bertrando ( 2 0 0 7 ) contends that theoretical purism is a m yth and that anyone w orking in the counselling field undergoes innum erable influences throughout their personal and professional lives. An epigenetic m odel

• The idea of substitution being im possible
• Every change in theory or practice connects up w ith

those experiences that have proven them selves useful

• Not a sim ple linear process of accum ulating new

ideas over tim e, but rather … a system of concepts and of experiences recursively connected and in continual evolution

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Still Bertrando (2007)

• I n our w ork w e find inspiration in the m eaningful

voices to w hich w e have been exposed during our professional career

• I n accordance w ith our epigenetic view , w e integrate

w ithin our m ore recent version of the system ic m odel, the theories learned in the past and all the m eaningful ‘voices’ professional or sim ply hum an) that inspire us in our daily practice and life.

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My inspiration - briefly

• Lifeline and Carl Rogers
• Empathy, Unconditional Positive Regard

and Congruence

• Not much about the Actualizing Tendency,

the Organismic Valuing Process or Conditions of Worth or External Locus of Evaluation

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And then:

• Relationships Australia (NSW) in the

glorious 90’s

• Post – Milan – with emphasis on the Post!
• From Milan:
• Moving away from pathology
• The importance of context
• Circular causality as against lineal
• Behaviour having a function – and being

positively connoted

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• Curiosity
• Neutrality
• Hypothesising
• The art of curious questions
• The idea of the therapist as a participant

in the therapeutic system

• Perturbation and re-organisation

Just by the way, there was still very much an element of strategic expertise, hierarchy, the therapist as content expert, intervener and privileged meta-knower (Anderson, 1997, 4)

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And then the Post! Acknowledging Gehart (2014, pp 138-139)

• Social Constructionist ideas
• Reality
• Objectivity is not possible
• Knowledge and truth constructed within and between

people – culturally, historically and relationally bound

• Truth and reality constructed by language and

relationships

• Language and w ords describe m eaning but also

m ake m eaning

• Language is generative, gives order and meaning to
• ur lives and our world, and functions as a form of

social participation (Anderson, 2007, 3)

• Societal and political influences – dominant discourses

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And the Post grew! Learning different languages

• Solution Focused
• Questions as taps on the shoulder
• Narrative
• The work of Harlene Anderson and Harry

Goolishian – Conversation, language and Possibilities (1997)

• Paolo Bertrando – the Dialogical Therapist –

“Someone whose therapy is guided by the use of systemic hypotheses but who also works in a more collaborative manner, in dialogue, to produce a hypothesis actively created by both therapist and clients”

• Open Dialogue – Jaakko Seikkula (Finland)

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In the words of Anderson (2007, 4) where it has led me epigenetically

• A system contextually based and a

product of social communication

• We are a system of individuals who are in

a relationship through language

• A philosophical stance inviting a

collaborative relationship and process

• A collaborative partnership between

people with different perspectives and expertise

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• The therapist as a not-knower in a being-

informed position – the therapist is uncertain and regards knowledge as evolving

• A therapist as an expert in creating a

dialogical space and facilitating a dialogical process

• A focus on generating possibilities and

relying on the contributions and creativity

• f all participants

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• A shared inquiry that relies on the expertise
• f all persons participating in a conversation
• A therapist who is public about, shares, and

reflects on his or her knowledge, assumptions, thoughts, questions, and

• pinions
• Change – as evolving through and the natural

consequence of a generative dialogue and collaborative relationship

• A therapist and a client as co-investigators

who participate in creating what they “find”.

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Case Study