Encyclopedia of Couple and Family Therapy

Living Edition
| Editors: Jay Lebow, Anthony Chambers, Douglas C. Breunlin

Circular Questioning in Couple and Family Therapy

Living reference work entry
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15877-8_314-1
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Name of the Strategy or Intervention

Circular questioning

Introduction

Circular questioning is a systemic method of clinical inquiry initially developed by the Milan Associates (Palazzoli Selvini et al. 1980) and later adapted widely within the field of couple and family therapy (Fleuridas et al. 1986). The innovative work of the Milan Associates applied systems theory and cybernetic epistemology to clinical work with family systems which, in part, resulted in an approach to therapy which directed questions toward a relational system rather than an individual (Palazzoli Selvini et al. 1980). Circular questioning is a practical methodology that makes the clinical shift from individual and linear to relational and circular (Fleuridas et al. 1986).

Theoretical Framework

Circular questioning emerged amidst the rise of the systemic revolution in mental health treatment in the twentieth century. The emerging systemic theories of Bateson (1972) and Watzlawick et al. (Watzlawick et al. 1967)...

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References

  1. Bateson, G. (1972). Steps to an ecology of mind. Northvale: Aronson.Google Scholar
  2. Brown, J. (1997). Circular questioning: An introductory guide. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy, 18(2), 109–114.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  3. Fleuridas, C., Nelson, T. S., & Rosenthal, D. M. (1986). The evolution of circular questions: Training family therapists. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 12(2), 113–127.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  4. Palazzoli Selvini, M., Boscolo, L., Cecchin, G., & Prata, G. (1980). Hypothesizing – Circularity – Neutrality: Three guidelines for the conductor of the session. Family Process, 19, 3–12.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  5. Penn, P. (1982). Circular questioning. Family Process, 21(3), 267–280.CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  6. Tomm, K. (1984). One perspective on the Milan systemic approach: Part II. Description of session format, interviewing style and interventions. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 10, 253–271.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  7. Watzlawick, P., Bavelas, J. B., & Jackson, D. (1967). Pragmatics of human communication: A study in interactional patterns, pathologies, and paradoxes. New York: Norton.Google Scholar

Copyright information

© Springer International Publishing AG 2018

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Lipscomb UniversityNashvilleUSA

Section editors and affiliations

  • David Kearns
    • 1
  • Bahareh Sahebi
    • 2
  1. 1.Iowa CityUSA
  2. 2.The Family Institute at Northwestern UniversityEvanstonUSA