Text and context: narrative, postmodernism and cybernetics

Abstract

Currently, the systemic view in family therapy is being substituted by a postmodern narrative approach, while cybernetics tends to be considered an outdated perspective and its contribution to therapy overlooked. This paper proposes an epigenetic view for the evolution of theories, according to which a narrative therapy without systems is incomplete. The paper lists the implicit and explicit prescriptions to which a postmodern narrative therapist is subjected, and reviews some criticisms of the systemic perspective made by postmodern authors. Some internal inconsistencies of postmodern narrative therapies are considered, and some ways forward suggested.

The presence of the third party: systemic therapy and transference analysis

“…I have chosen a form of psychoanalysis, which in its turn deals with relations, but looks into them through a preferential enquiry into transference analysis (Gill, 1982). The choice of a psychoanalytic therapy was not accidental: historically, systemic therapy derives from psychoanalysis through differentiation but has maintained a relationship fraught with opposition through the years (Bertrando, 2000). Nowadays, a number of authors (Byng-Hall, 1995;Flaskas, 1996;Larner, 2000) have resolved to bridge the gap between psychoanalysis and systemic therapy.…”

Shifts Happen: A Confluence of Influence

“…Nothing we do came from the ether-we all bring our epistemologies, theories, and biases with us into the therapy room (Bertrando, 2000;. On the other hand, loyalty to a particular model beyond what is reasonable saddens me.…”

Discursive Research and Clinical Realities, or the Eye of the Beholder

“…Lately, the claim that social constructionism has solved centuries‐old philosophical problems (see Gergen, ) has been disputed (Bertrando, ; Pocock, ). Even in circles advocating a new approach to realism (Ferraris, ), though, some issues remain highly problematic.…”