Theoretical Perspectives of Constructivist Paul Watzlawick - Research Paper Example

THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE OF CONSTRUCTIVIST PAUL WATZLAWICK (1921-2007) and Number of Researcher’s Biography Paul Watzlawick was born in July 25 1921to an Austrian-American family. He lived in his hometown Villach, Austria with his family and after graduating from high school in 1939 moved to Venice. In Venice, he studied philosophy at “Ca’Foscari” university graduating in 1949 with a degree in doctor of philosophy. He did not stop his studies and later joined the Carl Gustav Jung Institute in Zurich and in 1954 obtained a degree in analytical psychotherapy. Being a philosopher, a lot of philosophical concepts were of interest to him. Mr. Watzlawick’s interest in Buddhist philosophy led him to India where he stayed for a year. In 1957 he started teaching at the University of El Salvador and was later called by Don D Jackson to join the league of researchers at the Mental Research Institute. Paul Watzlawick was a philosopher, a methodical researcher on communication and human behavior. His main belief was that; human beings bring into existence their own unpleasant experiences by attempting to solve their emotional difficulties. With this notion in mind, He established himself in family therapy and psychotherapy. Paul contributed to the constructivist ways by which human interaction and behavior were to be viewed. At the research institute, he was able to emulate others before him, carrying out research on family and individual behaviors and communications (Griffin, 2012). Paul helped better explain the “Double Bind” theory developed by Gregory Bateson. Mr. Watzlawick mainly concentrated on family therapy and carried out extensive research on family communication and how it affects the personality of an individual. Researcher’s Theoretical Perspective Mr. Watzlawick’s days at the MRI were occupied by research on various human behaviors. He carried out research on communication between family members and how it is affected. This enabled him to come up with the interactional view in the theory of communication. This view describes the five axioms, which he states as being necessary to have an effective communication between two people or family members. Paul further explained that misunderstandings arose because people have different views or opinions. This view was mainly based on the principle of the science of communication control systems in human beings. The interactional view is built on the occurrences during the communication process and not to whom, when, why or where it occurs. The five axioms that govern a family’s communication balance are as follows: 1. Communication accrues from each and single behavior and it is difficult not to communicate. Non-verbal cues and gestures are also a form of communication. 2. Communication contains information that is passed on from one person to another forming a relationship between the two. The relationship will determine how the speaker wants to be heard and how the receiver perceives the information. 3. Individuals in the communication process view their behaviors while communicating as being influenced by the behavior of the other. 4. This axiom brings out the digital and analog elements and talks about the nonverbal cues contained in human communication. 5. Communication processes are influenced by vertical or horizontal levels of relations. When two people with equal power communicate, there will be a sense of understanding. Experiments and Findings Paul Watzlawick and his colleagues created the Brief Systematic-Strategy therapy which was aimed at finding and disturbing processes occurring opposite to what is expected. These processes occurred when one tried repeatedly to solve a problem but the processes make it even more difficult to solve. They carried an experiment on a married couple that was constantly arguing with each other even though they were trying to prevent themselves (Michael J. Rohrbaugh, 2009). Their findings were that the ironic processes must be interrupted by identifying the particular solution that is sought after. Then the participant is urged to do less or opposite of what they have been doing. Their results brought about effective methods of treatment and well developed modes of brief treatment of clinical problems like; depression, anxiety and phobic problems, eating disorders and family relationships. Watzlawick also carried out experiments to find out and explain further the theory of double bind. Working with the five axioms, he gave the view that; the relationship between two people will depend on the message given during a communication process. The message is in such a way that it gives a different assumption to the receiver who reacts in a particular manner. His findings brought about the metacommunication twist whereby one is unable to recognize a distinction between two different messages (Watzlawick, 1967). Historical Trends Mr. Watzlawick, having learned philosophy as his first degree, became interested in oriental and Buddhist philosophy. This interest prompted him to move to India were he stayed for a year and studied and gained ideas on Buddhist philosophy. These ideas and views were to later form the basis of his experiments and successful work. He comes back to America to teach psychotherapy in a number of universities, enhancing his knowledge in psychology. The peak of his career came when he was invited to Palo Alto by Don. D. Jackson to join the MRI center as a researcher. At the MRI centre, Paul collaborates with a team of psychologists researchers, carrying out experiments on human mental behavior and coming up with solutions for abnormal behaviors. For example the brief therapy experiment that has helped many psychologists to solve repeated misbehaviors. Notable Characteristics Mr. Watzlawick was a world renowned psycho analyst and philosophist. This was because of his ability to simplify the ideas and works of those before him such as Gregory Bateson and Milton Erickson. This he did in a thorough and exhaustive manner to bring out models that can be applied in real life situations. His movement from one university to another as a professor enhanced his popularity among students of psychology and philosophy in different countries. His knowledge in the different areas was amazing and influential in the world of psychology. He was also the single author who has been able to interpret his books into almost 75 languages. This enabled people in different parts of the world access his ideas and solutions to solve human mental problems. The books were a means of reaching those who could not come to the MRI and also extending their knowledge. These books greatly enhanced Paul’s popularity in the world of psychotherapy. References Griffin, E. (2012). A first look at Communication Theory. New York: McGraw-Hill. Michael J. Rohrbaugh, V. S. (2009, December 7). Brief Therapy Based on Interrupting Ironic Processes: The Palo Alto Model. Retrieved from NCBI: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2789564/ Watzlawick, P. B. (1967). Pragmatics of Human Communication: A Study of International Patterns, Pathologies and Paradoxes. New York: Norton. Read More