EP00 Dialogue 08 - Brief Therapeutic Interventions - William Glasser, MD, and Paul Watzlawick, PhD

Description:

Educational Objectives:

1. Given a topic, to become aware of the differing approaches to psychotherapy, and to identify the strengths and weaknesses in each approach.

*Sessions may be edited for content and to preserve confidentiality*

Outline:

Brief Therapeutic Interventions: William Glasser's Approach

• Glasser defines brief interventions as “as brief as possible, even if it takes years”

• Draws from experience in hospitals, schools, and correctional facilities using spontaneous, informal interventions

• Emphasizes showing care, understanding, and avoiding punitive approaches

• Describes posing as assistant principal to better understand a student without asserting control

Examples of Brief Interventions

• Historical examples cited, including Plutarch's tale from Malaysia and a Zen master's creative solution

• Glasser adds an intervention by mail helping a woman overcome fear of public speaking

• Shares a case from the Ventura School for Girls where honesty and empathy created change

• Stresses the impact of saying unexpected, truthful things to shift clients’ behavior and thinking

Paradoxical Interventions and Systemic Approaches

• Concept of paradoxical interventions introduced—clients asked to amplify their problematic behavior

• Glasser affirms that truth-telling often provides client relief

• Discussion of systemic maintenance of problems—symptoms often serve relational or systemic functions

• Glasser recounts case of a teacher with urinary compulsion possibly tied to job avoidance

Addressing Resistant Clients and Systemic Problems

• A question is raised about a resistant client who tends to find fault with therapists

• Suggested strategy: make the problem worse to disrupt resistance

• Glasser advises turning the client into an ally by acknowledging possible therapist missteps

• Emphasis on addressing the system, not just the individual

Addiction and Workaholism

• Discussion of workaholism as a culturally reinforced and employer-valued addiction

• Uncertainty expressed about addiction solutions, but systemic understanding prioritized

• Noted challenge of treating addiction in clients who've seen many therapists without change

Brief Interventions with School Officials

• Suggestions for school-based brief interventions include leveraging teachers students respond to

• Systemic barriers in schools noted; failures by psychologists can support status quo

• Glasser emphasizes need for schools to adapt to individual student needs rather than enforcing conformity

Protocol Therapies and Brief Interventions

• Question raised about tension between protocol-based therapy and intuitive intervention

• Glasser prioritizes effectiveness over familiarity with protocol models

• PTSD discussed critically as a potentially system-supported diagnosis with secondary gains

• Labeling a condition may reinforce and entrench it

Dealing with Compulsive Lying in Adolescents

• A 14-year-old compulsive liar described; advice given to focus on unmet needs (e.g. lack of friends)

• Lying framed as a symptom, not the core problem

• Systemic, holistic understanding stressed over direct confrontation of the behavior