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Conflict resolution class lectures_208332546-Change-Principles-of-Problem-Formation-and-Problem-Resolution

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Paul Watzlawick, John H. Weakland, Richard Fisch

Change: Principles of Problem Formation and Problem

Resolution

To the memory of DON D. JACKSON

FOREWORD

I would have preferred to say much more about this book than

I do here. Unfortunately, ill health prevents me from doing

that, but thereby leads me to come to the point at once.

There have been multitudes of books and theories on how to

change people, but at long last, the authors in this book have

looked seriously at the subject of change itself—both how

change occurs spontaneously, and how change can be

promoted. I have attempted to understand this in my own

work, and describe it in my own writings. Psychotheraphy is

sought not primarily for enlightenment about the

unchangeable past but because of dis¬satisfaction with the

present and a desire to better the future. In what direction and

how much change is needed neither the pa¬tient nor the

therapist can know. But a change in the current situation is

required, and once established, however small, necessi¬tates

other minor changes, and a snowballing effect of these minor

changes leads to other more significant changes in accord with

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the patient's potentials. Whether the changes are evanescent,

perma¬nent, or evolve into other changes is of vital

importance in any understanding of human behavior for the

self and others. I have viewed much of what I have done as

expediting the currents of change already seething within the

person and the family—but currents that need the

“unexpected,” the “illogical,” and the “sudden” move to lead

them into tangible fruition.

It is this phenomenon of change with which this book is

con¬cerned, the actual nature and kinds of change so long

overlooked by the formulation of theories about how to

change people. W'atz- lawick, Weakland, and Fisch have, in

this extremely important

book, looked at this phenomenon and put it into a conceptual

framework—illuminated by examples from a variety of

areas— which opens up new' pathways to the further

understanding of how people become enmeshed in problems

with each other, and new pathways to expediting the

resolution of such human im¬passes. The relevance of this

new framework extends far beyond the sphere of

“psychological” problems from w'hich it grew. This work is

fascinating. I think it is a noteworthy contribution—a damn

good book—and a must for anyone seeking to understand the

many aspects of group behavior.

1 am pleased that my own work has contributed to the ideas

represented in this book, I appreciate having had the

opportunity to make this small comment on it. Perhaps, here

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Paul Watzlawick, John H. Weakland, Richard Fisch Change: Principles of Problem Formation and Problem Resolution To the memory of DON D. JACKSON FOREWORD I would have preferred to say much more about this book than I do here. Unfortunately, ill health prevents me from doing that, but thereby leads me to come to the point at once. There have been multitudes of books and theories on how to change people, but at long last, the authors in this book have looked seriously at the subject of change itself—both how change occurs spontaneously, and how change can be promoted. I have attempted to understand this in my own work, and describe it in my own writings. Psychotheraphy is sought not primarily for enlightenment about the unchangeable past but because of dis¬satisfaction with the present and a desire to better the future. In what direction and how much change is needed neither the pa¬tient nor the therapist can know. But a change in the current situation is required, and once established, however small, necessi¬tates other minor changes, and a snowballing effect of these minor changes leads to other more significant changes in accord with the patient's potentials. Whether the changes are evanescent, perma¬nent, or evolve into other changes is of vital importance in any understanding of human behavior for the self and others. I have viewed much of what I have done as expediting the currents of change already seething within the person and the family—but currents that ne ...
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