ABSTRACT
Paradoxical interventions represent perhaps the most sophisticated and elegant of the advanced nonlinear thought processes demonstrated by master practitioners (regardless of their theoretical orientation). As such, explicit use of paradoxical interventions is a hallmark characteristic of Level 3 practitioner development and is the last of the seven domains that master practitioners employ to help clients. This chapter begins by defining some of the basic elements and concepts regarding the “how to” of implementing nonlinear thinking and using paradoxical interventions. To illustrate this, examples of reframing are provided that help define it and its central place in therapy, as well as show how nonlinear listening provides the input that a therapist needs in order to respond to clients in a variety of circumstances. Next, paradox will be differentially defined from both the client’s perspective and from the clinician’s perspective (i.e., “from a certain point of view”) as they relate to advanced nonlinear thinking, and the chapter shows how paradoxical interventions act as a “Fulcrum of Change.” Finally, the first and most basic type of paradoxical intervention strategies: the neutralizers, will be introduced.
