A Piagetian View of Family Therapy: Selvini‐Palazzoli and the Invariant Approach

Abstract

The Invariant Approach of Mara Selvini-Palazzoli is a new development in the Milan approach to family therapy. In order to distinguish and explain it, an overview of the Invariant Approach is given. Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development is used to provide a framework for explaining how Selvini-Palazzoli's therapy alters the family's epistemology and facilitates change in the "family game." It is suggested that family members in therapy tend to think about their problems in a style that resembles Piaget's preoperational period. The process of therapy can be seen as geared to facilitate a shift from a preoperational to an operational style of cognitive functioning. This shift gives family members access to more adaptive ways of thinking about their problem-solving strategies.

Um Remédio Contra a Exclusão: Maledetta Follia?Uma Revisão

“…A palavra cognitivismo de início confundiu os profissionais italianos, especialmente por seu forte apelo a referências americanas (ex. : Shazer & Molnar, 1984ou Hunsberger, 1989, com contaminação behaviorista e um cunho menos psicológico que pedagógico (v. Gelcer & Schwartzbein, 1989) em uma interpretação -a sistêmica -que aliás modifica sua fonte comum: um Bateson tardio de 1970, de meras três páginas... Na Italia então -e para desespero dos profissionais da área -no momento tal método demonstra-se como tendo mais oradores que pesquisadores ou profissionais envolvidos com a prática sanitária. Até onde pudemos observar, a terapia dita sistêmica cognitivista não veio assim a responder às questões da prática sanitária, lançando antes grande confusão conceitual e o recurso aflito a métodos behavioristas e farmacêuticos.…”

Annotation: Family Therapy– Developments in Thinking and Practice

“…Whereas Palazzoli has radically changed her position in later years (Palazzoli et al, 1989), two of her original associates have further developed the strategic neutral stance of the therapist (Boscolo, Cecchin, Hoffman & Penn, 1987). Interestingly, Palazzoli's recent work has been reviewed in connection with the thinking of Piaget, especially in relation to operational and pre-operational thinking (Gelcer & Schwartzbein, 1989).…”