What is a paradoxical intervention?
A paradoxical intervention tells a client or family who resists change to keep doing the problem, or not to change too quickly, so that change follows whether they comply or rebel. Watzlawick, Weakland and Fisch of the Mental Research Institute in Palo Alto developed the theory in *Change* (1974), and it was widely used in Haley's strategic family therapy and by the Milan team.
- Premise
- Families protect stability (homeostasis)
- Principle
- Use resistance as leverage
- Goal
- Second-order change
- Also called
- Therapeutic double bind
First- and second-order change
Doing more of the same solution is first-order change; changing the frame or rules is second-order change. When the attempted solution keeps the problem going, as when trying hard to sleep keeps you awake, paradox is used.
Main techniques
- Prescribing the symptom: "Have your argument deliberately at 8 p.m." Controlling a symptom changes its meaning.
- Restraining: "It's too early to change; go slowly."
- Reframing: Giving the problem a positive function (e.g., a child's trouble keeps parents together).
- Positioning: The therapist takes a more pessimistic stance than the client.
"Don't think of a pink elephant." Instantly, you do. Conversely, told to worry on purpose for fifteen minutes a day, people find worry becomes something they control, and it loses force.
Frankl's paradoxical intention
Viennese psychiatrist Viktor Frankl described paradoxical intention in 1960: patients with insomnia or phobias deliberately wish for what they fear, breaking anticipatory anxiety. It is an individual technique, but the logic is similar. Paradox in communication traces back to double bind theory.
Ethical cautions
Symptom prescription is never used with self-harm, violence or suicide risk. Critics call paradox manipulative, so today it is used cautiously, within a collaborative relationship and with explanation.
Frequently asked questions
- Is it deceptive?
- The task is genuine, but the risk of manipulation means it needs ethical care.
- When should it not be used?
- With risk of self-harm or violence, or in crises.
- Is it the same as paradoxical intention?
- Similar logic, but Frankl's technique is individual, while paradoxical interventions target family systems.
References
- Watzlawick, P., Weakland, J. H., & Fisch, R. (1974). Change: Principles of problem formation and problem resolution. W. W. Norton.
- Frankl, V. E. (1960). Paradoxical intention: A logotherapeutic technique. American Journal of Psychotherapy, 14(3), 520–535.