ABSTRACT
Adler has been identified as the first person in Western civilization to use and write about paradoxical interventions in psychotherapy (Mozdzierz, Macchitelli, & Lisiecki, 1976). Mozdzierz et al. (1976) have provided the following description of a paradoxical intervention: “It consists of seemingly self-contradictory and sometimes even absurd therapeutic interventions which are always constructively rationalizable, although sometimes very challenging, and which join rather than oppose symptomatic behavior while containing qualities of empathy, encouragement and humor, leading to increased social interest” (p. 169). The paradoxical prescription is thought to place the client in a therapeutic bind, and Adler frequently employed “prescribing the symptom” as a means of defusing the client’s resistance to the therapist’s influence (Ansbacher & Ansbacher, 1978). While the content of the therapist’s words recommends that the client continue with the problematic behavior, the nonverbal message challenges the client to behave in a “normal” manner and reflects concern as well as empathy for the client (Haley, 1976; Weeks & L’Abate, 1982).
