The Language of Change: Elements of Therapeutic Communication

When the USSR began to fragment in the early 1980's, scientists with their lifetimes spent behind the "Iron Curtain," introduced banned Soviet manuscripts from minds like Lev Vygotsky, whose ideas on thought & language, would have supported Dr. Watzlawick's work conceptually & technically. In this farsighted text, Dr. Watzlawick deals with fanatically complex dynamics involved in linguistic instrumentality, communicational pragmatics, & in both tandem conscious & unconscious intersubjective processes. Watzlawick & his post-Bateson crew, had situated training in a unique version of a psycholinguistic based, hybrid for on medical hypnotherapy, conceptualized by Milton H. Erickson. Gregory Bateson & Margaret Mead, in 1936, become friends to the Erickson's over a mutual interest in arcane Polynesian "trance rituals." During the Stanford Project of Gregory Bateson, Paul Watzlawick & Jay Haley were staff researchers wanting beyond the double-bind project goal, a taxonomy for "The Pragmatics of human Communication." Bateson turned his Stanford group over to Milton H. Erickson, MD, for hand-on psychotherapeutic training, employing, what on the surface seems bizarre, non-social language constructions. As conceptualized by Watzlawick from the behaviorism wars conclusion (circa 1946-1985), his work was considered attending to a clients unconscious therapeutic behavior. Neuro Linguistic Programing (NLP), was derived from another pair of training psychotherapist with Milton Erickson, which means the approaches overlap, yet still different. Ironically, when considering Paul Watzlawick's position on many of todays insights, elevating his concerns of language & change to a scientifically valid body of knowledge. The "Black Box" of our brain had not occurred, the gene wasn't mapped, & computational science had not yet metered. The entire Bateson network was, in modern terms, anti-psychiatry, without the DSM-III, lousy drugs, & a largely ineffective psychotherapy profession. Their skepticism & well founded mistrust of genetics & behavior, research psychiatry, & their rigid views toward such topics, date their era. Researchers like Paul Watzlawick, had not in their later years, accept a legitimate role for genetic predisposition impacting real-time behavioral outcomes, or today's views on language & Adaptive Unconscious Processes, social priming, automatic behaviors, & subtle neurological issues could exist.

Six stars! Exactly as listed. Excellent book worth reading by anyone interested in the process of change whether on a limited or a life-altering basis.

Elucidated Erickson’s techniques better than anyone with less pages smh

One of those rare books that you wish wouldn't end because it keeps coming up with great insights. It was a rough start with . bit too much time spent explaining the physiology between the right and left hemisphere. To some extent, the theory that each hemisphere is dedicate to a specific function has been debunked. No matter, the fact that there are two types of thinking, rational/logical and intuitive/creative. The latter is the language of the unconscious and therefore the language of change. This key insight drives the other powerful to achieve meaningful and lasting change.

Dr. Paul Watzlawick's book of change and communication, largely based on the work of Milton H. Erickson, dives right into the theories of the left and right hemispheric patterns in humans. Then discusses the language patterns of schizophrenics. These two major themes when studied and practiced yields a result of change. Watzlawick understands both that: all people have a set of language patterns; and secondly all people are using their brain when they speak. Knowing this will able the reader to speak effectively to a schizophrenic, or just about anyone in a theraputic sense which will allow change in individuals. This book is easy to read with a lot of information with a wonderful conclusion. Highly reccomended for those working in clinical psychology or just looking to change your self.

Very old publication and much ado over philosiphers of the past. booged down in greek. I have not gotten to the point yet and am half way through the book. Read things printed 1990 and sooner. Leave this behind. Ancient reading here.

I was expecting to see more of down to earth action in the field of psychotherapy. In this book there are much generalities and it might be a good read for someone that like the scientific mumbo jumbo and difficult sentences.

This is a remarkable and clever book. MY copy is now littered with penciled comments on virtually every page. Thought-provoking and insightful, Watzlawick expatiates on some of the fundamentals of human communication in ways that constantly create 'ah ha' moments. As you might expect from a communications expert, the book is very readable. In my opinion, this book should be on the core syllabus for anybody in (or even remotely connected to) the caring profession - whether you're a coach, therapist, leader or manager, this book is a must.

La note de cinq étoiles est à distribuer à tous équitablement : auteur, équipe de recherche, éditeur, bouquiniste vendeur et Amazon ! Ce livre est la version originale du titre en Français "Le langage du changement", écrit à la lumière des travaux de recherche de l'Ecole de Palo Alto, en Californie. USA. J'ai saisie l'opportunité de m'offrir ce livre en VO parce que les traductions faites à l'époque de la sortie de cet ouvrage semblent avoir des erreurs d'interprétation de concepts puisque il semble bien que seule l'équipe de Palo Alto connaissait bien le domaine sur lequel elle travaillait y compris les concepts utilisés et crées au moments de leurs recherches. Donc, oui je le recommande à ceux et celles qui travaillent dans les domaines de la communication et des thérapies et qui aiment les livres en VO, les éditions d'origine. Et tout cela, c'est possible avec Amazon !

Well written book with deep insights. This book helped me in my career advancement.

Muy buen libro llego a tiempo y es un precio razonable

A very interesting read!