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Joining with all members of a family system: The rhetoric of antilogic in family therapy dialogue

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Abstract

Family therapists face a significant rhetorical challenge in working with families that disagree about the problematic life-situation which brought them to therapy. Therapists must find a way to join with disagreeing family members and then find a way to engage in a therapeutically useful conversation with them. Thus, they must deal resourcefully with contradictions. This article explores the ways that the Sophistic rhetorical concept of antilogic may be employed in helping therapists join and then engage in a therapeutically useful conversation with families who hold contradictory views concerning the problem that brought them to therapy.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. West by Northwest Agency, 5837 Hamilton Avenue, 45224-2984, Cincinnati, Ohio

    Dale E. Bertram PhD (therapist)

Authors
  1. Dale E. Bertram PhD
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Additional information

The author wishes to thank Ronald Chenail, PhD, Douglas Flemons, PhD, and Shelly Green, PhD, for their assistance in the development of this project.

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Bertram, D.E. Joining with all members of a family system: The rhetoric of antilogic in family therapy dialogue. Contemp Fam Ther 18, 523–533 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02195715

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02195715

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