Paolo Bertrando – «To Some Extent» - An Interview with the Italian Systemic Family Therapist and Psychiatrist, Paolo Bertrando

The Multi‐epistemological Systemic Therapist: A Qualitative Study

“…For one, we think that the social constructionist idea that everything can be considered as a construction is inaccurate (Lorås, ). Even if it is impossible for people to know what is real, we must realise that there is something that is unreal.…”

“…We argue that it is important to include both constructivism and critical realism in the systemic ‘portfolio.’ By this we mean that to acknowledge only a social constructionist stance as the foundation for systemic therapy is insufficient regarding the complexity in child and adolescent mental health care. For example, although systemic therapists cannot define what the ‘correct’ family interactions are, they can instead say that family violence is wrong and illegal (Lorås, , c). The social constructionist idea that everything can be re‐constructed is not actually useful when working with vulnerable children and adolescents living under adverse conditions.…”

“…Depriving a child or adolescent and his/her family the right to a diagnosis that can help them in understanding, reunification, and mastery and provide potential helping aids or interventions can also be understood as an expression of therapeutic authoritarianism and an abuse of power (Rimehaug & Helmersberg, ). The problem with the dominant diagnostic culture is the idea that once you have made the diagnosis, you have identified the essence of the suffering and solved the problem (Lorås, ; Rose, ). Instead, a more useful distinction was made by Bertrando (cited in Lorås, ), that once you have made a diagnosis, you have made a somewhat useful distinction if it gives meaning to the involved persons.…”

“…The problem with the dominant diagnostic culture is the idea that once you have made the diagnosis, you have identified the essence of the suffering and solved the problem (Lorås, ; Rose, ). Instead, a more useful distinction was made by Bertrando (cited in Lorås, ), that once you have made a diagnosis, you have made a somewhat useful distinction if it gives meaning to the involved persons. The problem is perhaps not the technological aspect (e.g., ICD‐10) of ‘traditional’ psychiatry, but its values (Lorås, ).…”

“…Systemic therapists seem to have neglected placing themselves in influential positions within the mental health field. Instead, systemic therapists seem to have emphasised a focus on stories and constructions, with a basis in resources and opportunities, without attempting to build bridges between positivism and social constructionism (Hertz, ; Lorås, , b, c).…”