Synonyms
Action methods; Ordeal technique; Paradoxical interventions; Symptom prescription
Introduction
The use of ordeals as a therapeutic strategy was developed by Jay Haley and is rooted in his strategic family therapy background and his long association with Milton Erickson (Haley 2011). While working with Erickson and learning hypnosis, Haley found that Erickson often used brief therapeutic strategies with clients that imposed on them absurd dilemmas which ultimately led to therapeutic change. Haley found that he, himself, was utilizing a similar strategy by, for example, “curing a women’s severe headaches by encouraging her to have the headaches as a way to get control of them” (p. 3). These strategic interventions became known as ordeals and are closely linked to the paradoxical interventions used in hypnosis and strategic therapy.
Theoretical Framework
Ordeals are grounded in strategic family therapy. Strategic therapy is a brief form of therapy characterized by the therapist...
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References
Gardner, B., Burr, B., & Wiedower, S. (2006). Re-conceptualizing strategic family therapy: Insights from a dynamic systems perspective. Contemporary Family Therapy, 28, 339–352.
Haley, J. (2011). Ordeal therapy: Unusual ways to change behavior. Bethel: Crown House Publishing Limited.
Steenbarger, B. (1992). Toward science-practice in brief counseling and therapy. The Counseling Psychologist, 20, 402–450.
Zeig, J. (2007). A tribute to Jay Haley 1923–2007. American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 50, 5–9.
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Semmelhack, D.J. (2019). Ordeals in Couple and Family Therapy. In: Lebow, J.L., Chambers, A.L., Breunlin, D.C. (eds) Encyclopedia of Couple and Family Therapy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49425-8_331
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49425-8_331
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