1;Cover ;1 2;Title Page ;4 3;Copyright ;5 4;Table of Contents ;6 5;Body ;12 6;Preface;12 7;Foreword;15 8;1 Peeking Inside the Box: What’s There and What’s Where;17 8.1;1.1 An Outline;17 8.2;1.2 The Formal Layout of the Texts – Notes for the Reader;18 8.3;1.3 Our Position: Shish Kebab Yes, Goulash No;19 9;2 Exploring, Observing, Beginning;22 9.1;2.1 What to Expect: The Initial Phase;22 9.2;2.2 What Is a System and Who Belongs to the System?;23 9.2.1;Background Text: The Term “System” and Its Constructions;23 9.3;2.3 Preparing for a Conversation: Facts, Positions;27 9.3.1;2.3.1 Facts;27 9.3.2;Background Text: Facts – Is There Such a Thing as Objectivity?;29 9.3.3;2.3.2 Points of View;30 9.3.4;Background Text: Differences Provide Information – and Information Makes Change Possible;31 9.4;2.4 From Contact to Contract: Initial Interactions;33 9.4.1;2.4.1 Structure and Possible Questions;33 9.4.2;2.4.2 Joining: Warm-up, Becoming Acquainted and Introduction;33 9.4.3;2.4.3 The Referral to Counseling, Clarifying the Contracts and Concerns;35 9.4.4;2.4.4 Exploring Problems and Resources;38 9.4.5;2.4.5 A Contract for Continued Cooperation;39 9.4.6;2.4.6 Evaluating the Initial Contact;40 9.4.7;Background Text: Is It Possible to Observe Without Acting?;40 9.5;2.5 Observing Behavior and Interactions;43 9.5.1;Background Text: To Interview or to Facilitate Enactment?;43 9.5.2;2.5.1 Behavioral Patterns;45 9.5.3;2.5.2 Interactions: The Social Dynamics of a System;48 9.5.4;Background Text: What Are Interactions? ;48 9.5.5;2.5.3 The Group as a System: Interaction as the Key to Social Dynamics;49 9.5.6;2.5.4 Behavioral and Interaction Sequences;51 9.5.7;2.5.5 Roles;53 9.6;2.6 Observing One’s Own Physical and Emotional Reactions;55 10;3 Processing, Analyzing and Visualizing Information;58 10.1;3.1 The Genogram;59 10.1.1;3.1.1 Notes on Constructing a Genogram;59 10.1.2;3.1.2 Genograms: Two Examples;61 10.1.3;Background Text: Contextualization;64 10.2;3.2 Map;66 10.2.1;3.2.1 Functional and Dysfunctional Relationship Structures According to Minuchin;66 10.2.2;Background Text: What Is a Structural Approach?;67 10.2.3;Background Text: Normative or Neutral Perspectives;70 10.2.4;3.2.2 Remarks on Using the Map;72 10.2.5;3.2.3 Action Possibilities: Dealing Creatively with Difficult Triads;73 10.3;3.3 Family-Helper Map;75 10.3.1;Background Text: First- and Second-Order Cybernetics;76 10.3.2;3.3.1 Drawing Up a Family-Helper Map;79 10.3.3;3.3.2 Notes on Registering the Informal Helpers;80 10.3.4;3.3.3 Notes on Registering the Professional Helpers in the Map;80 10.3.5;3.3.4 Key to the Family-Helper Map;81 10.3.6;Background Text: On Neutrality;82 10.4;3.4 Timeline;84 10.4.1;Background Text: Contextualization – The Temporal Dimension;86 10.4.2;3.4.1 Designing the Timeline;87 10.4.3;3.4.2 Working Together with the Client on a Timeline;87 10.5;3.5 Sociograms: The Group as System;89 10.5.1;Background Text: Sociometry and Group Dynamics Were the Earliest Approaches to Systemic Thought;91 10.6;3.6 Reports;94 10.6.1;3.6.1 Criteria for a Good Report;94 10.6.2;3.6.2 What Dimensions to Include in the Report;95 10.6.3;3.6.3 Progress Reports for Evaluation Purposes and Planning of Interventions;97 11;4 Making Decisions: Preparing a Contract, Setting Goals, Planning Interventions;100 11.1;4.1 The Contract Is the Basic Guiding Principle of Systemic Work;100 11.1.1;Background Text: Why Do Systemic Therapists Speak of Contracts and Concerns?;101 11.1.2;4.1.1 How to Set up a Contract;103 11.1.3;4.1.2 What Does a Contract Contain?;103 11.1.4;Background Text: Noncompliance with the Contract;106 11.1.5;4.1.3 System Politics: Open, Hidden, Contradictory and Ambivalent Mandates;107 11.1.6;Background Text: In Praise of Hidden Mandates; or: How to Slowly Melt an Iceberg;110 11.1.7;4.1.4 Complaining Clients: Listening as Mandate;112 11.1.8;4.1.5 Draftees: When Others Are More Motivated than the Clients;115 11.1.9;4.1.6 Control as Mandate: When Counselors Must Be More Motivated than their Clients;117 11.1.10;4.1.7 A Method for Resolving the Mandate Matter: The Carousel;119 11.1.11;4.1.8 Does the Mandate Match the Offer?;120 11.2;4.2 Generating Hypotheses and Summarizing a Working Hypothesis;123 11.2.1;Background Text: Why Do Systems Theorists Prefer to Speak of Hypotheses and Not of Diagnoses?;124 11.2.2;4.2.1 The Sources and Themes of Hypotheses;127 11.2.3;4.2.2 How to Construct Hypotheses;128 11.2.4;4.2.3 Three Practical Tips;131 11.2.5;Background Text: In Praise of Hypotheses – and the Demonizing of Hypotheses by the Followers of “Not-knowing”;131 11.3;4.3 Preparing Hypotheses When Working with Foreigners;135 11.4;4.4 Defining Good Goals;138 11.4.1;Background Text: Goal-Oriented Approaches – or: Does Perturbation Stimulate Open Processes?;139 11.4.2;4.4.1 Criteria for Formulating Goals;141 11.4.3;4.4.2 Goals for Placing Children in Foster Homes;144 11.4.4;4.4.3 Describing and Using Goals: Two Instruments;145 11.4.5;4.4.4 Planning and Evaluating Interventions;147 11.5;4.5 The Group as a System: Constructing Hypotheses;150 11.5.1;4.5.1 Different Group Contexts, Different Demands on Counselors;150 11.5.2;4.5.2 Hypothesis: Too Little or Too Much Cohesion;151 11.5.3;4.5.3 Hypothesis: Destructive Group Dynamics;153 11.5.4;4.5.4 Hypothesis: Too Few or Too Many External Limitations;154 11.5.5;4.5.5 Hypothesis: Different, Contradictory Values and Interests;155 11.5.6;4.5.6 Hypothesis: “Alpha” Stands for the “Wrong” Values and Interests;156 11.5.7;4.5.7 Why Develop Such Normative Hypotheses? ;157 12;5 Acting: Intervening and Accompanying Processes;160 12.1;Background Text: Inducing the New – Where Does Change Begin?;162 12.2;Background Text: Solutions Are Important – And so Are Problems;163 12.3;5.1 Sculptures: Three-Dimensional Metaphors;167 12.3.1;5.1.1 Sculpture as a Metaphor for Relationships;168 12.3.2;Background Text: The Value of a Sculpture;175 12.3.3;5.1.2 Verbal Metaphors as Sculptures;181 12.3.4;5.1.3 Sculpture as a Metaphor for Time: Memory Lane;185 12.4;5.2 Extensions: Sculptures in Different Settings;188 12.4.1;5.2.1 In Individual Therapy: Social Atom and Chair Sculptures;188 12.4.2;5.2.2 The Family Board;191 12.4.3;5.2.3 Symbol Sculptures;193 12.4.4;5.2.4 Working with Sculptures in Case Reviews;194 12.4.5;5.2.5 Sculptures in Family Reconstructions;195 12.4.6;Background Text: Systemics and History;197 12.4.7;5.2.6 Systemic Structural Constellations;198 12.5;5.3 Circular Questioning;199 12.5.1;5.3.1 How to Construct Circular Questions;200 12.5.2;Background Text: What’s So Circular About Circular Questioning?;201 12.5.3;Background Text: How Circular Questioning Works;209 12.5.4;5.3.2 Problem and Resource Contexts: Using Circular Questions;212 12.5.5;5.3.3 Two Suggestions for Dealing with Circular Questions;225 12.6;5.4 Comments;226 12.6.1;5.4.1 Normalizing;227 12.6.2;5.4.2 Paying Compliments and Activating Resources;228 12.6.3;5.4.3 Reframing: Changing Your Reality by Changing Your Description;230 12.6.4;5.4.4 Ambivalent Comments (Paradoxical Intention);236 12.6.5;Background Text: On Paradoxical Mandates and Paradoxical Interventions;237 12.7;5.5 Witnessing;241 12.7.1;5.5.1 Expanding the Perspective of the Client System;242 12.7.2;5.5.2 Inner Authorities, Role Models and Critics;244 12.7.3;5.5.3 Sympathetic Companions;246 12.7.4;5.5.4 Cultural Perspectives in Intercultural Counseling;246 12.7.5;Background Text: Studying, Creating and Deconstructing Constructions;248 12.8;5.6 Modeling Behavior: Behavior-Oriented Interventions ;251 12.8.1;Background Text: Helping in Word and Deed: Is That Still Systemic?;251 12.8.2;5.6.1 Personnel: Who Gets Invited?;253 12.8.3;5.6.2 Initial Encounter: The First Few Minutes;254 12.8.4;5.6.3 Using Vehicles: Working Directly on the Scene;255 12.8.5;5.6.4 Changing Spatial Constellations – Working with Limits;259 12.8.6;5.6.5 Presenting the Situation: Staging and Enactment;262 12.9;5.7 Modelling Contexts: Network;266 12.10;5.8 Externalization;269 12.10.1;Background Text: How Do Externalizations Work? Plus: A Warning!;272 12.11;5.9 Metaphors and Stories;273 12.11.1;Background Text: Using Stories in Therapy and Counseling;273 12.11.2;5.9.1 Joining: Stories Can Be Useful;275 12.11.3;5.9.2 Illustrating Stories, Encouraging Insights, Mirroring;275 12.11.4;5.9.3 Encouraging a Change of Perspective;276 12.11.5;5.9.4 Stories Cause Searching Behavior and Open up Lost Resources;277 12.11.6;5.9.5 Introducing Possible Solutions Indirectly Through Models;277 12.12;5.10 Between Sessions;280 12.12.1;5.10.1 Observational Tasks;282 12.12.2;5.10.2 Ambivalence Tasks: “Do nothing!” or “More of the same!”;283 12.12.3;5.10.3 Change Tasks;284 12.12.4;5.10.4 Rituals;286 12.12.5;5.10.5 Practicing New Behaviors;289 12.13;5.11 Accompanying and Supporting Changes;290 12.13.1;5.11.1 How to Be Supportive;290 12.13.2;5.11.2 Cheerleading and Asset Growth;291 12.13.3;5.11.3 A Climate of Change;293 12.13.4;5.11.4 On Relapses and Incidents;293 12.14;5.12 Leave-Taking and Final Phases;297 12.14.1;5.12.1 The Dynamics of Parting Processes;297 12.14.2;Background Text: Phases in the Process of Leave-Taking;299 12.14.3;5.12.2 Shaping the Final Phases;300 12.15;5.13 When Is it Best to Do What? Is There Such a Thing as a Typical Course?;303 13;6 Positions, Values and Roles in the Systemic Trade;308 13.1;6.1 Positions and Values;308 13.2;6.2 Control ;312 13.3;6.3 The Role of the Counselor: Teacher, Facilitator, Consultant, Evaluator;316 13.3.1;6.3.1 Teacher;316 13.3.2;6.3.2 Facilitator;317 13.3.3;6.3.1 Consultant;318 13.3.4;6.3.1 Evaluator;318 14;References;322 15;Index ;330 16;Back Cover ;338