Constructing Meaning and Action in Therapy: Confessions of an Early Pragmatist

Abstract

Part of being an Ericksonian therapist is the use of such well known and, often times, dramatic interventions as hypnosis, metaphor, indirection, paradoxical injunctions, and ambiguous tasks. These skills, while valuable, clearly have an intentional aspect to them. They are specific behaviors employed by the therapist in response to a client problem for the purpose of creating a positive therapeutic change. Early on in my career, I became faced with the epistemological dilemma of causality and cure in therapy. More intentionality on my part not only seemed inadequate but, in some instances, served to exacerbate the problem. Over time, the use of self in the therapeutic context has been helpful in moderating pragmatic intentionality. The following article is a personal narrative reviewing my reconciliation of intentionality within the larger aesthetic context of therapy.