Change: Principles of Problem Formation and Problem Resolution [Hardcover]

Paul Watzlawick (Author), John H. Weakland (Author), Richard Fisch (Author), Milton H. Erickson (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 17, 1974 | ISBN-10: 0393011046 | ISBN-13: 978-0393011043 | Edition: 1

Three prominent American therapists detail their theories and strategies for promoting human change and dealing with related psychological problems.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Paul Watzlawick was an associate at the Mental Research Institute, Palo Alto, and clinical professor in the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, Stanford University Medical Center. An internationally known psychologist, Watzlawick died in 2007.

John H. Weakland died in 1995.

Richard Fisch is a psychiatrist with a private practice in Palo Alto, California.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; 1 edition (April 17, 1974)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393011046
• ISBN-13: 978-0393011043
• Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 0.8 x 8.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #85,615 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A practical extension of Bateson's ideas... February 2, 2001

By Zentao

Format:Hardcover

Watzlawick and friends give a quick introduction into their ideas of the philosophy behind change and it why we sometimes have problems with it. They have taken Bateson's early work where he drew an analogy between Russell's logical types and the problems of communication between people.

I found the authors' excerpts from various therapy sessions to be quite interesting and they obviously have a great deal of practical experience in this type of therapy. Their overviews of the context of some patients also helps strengthen their ideas regarding problems, change and the reason we often have difficulty changing situations even though we would really like to.

The only shortcoming is the lack of ideas for accomplishing change. They present some possible avenues but after all of Wilber's books I think we could stand a new edition of this book that would encompass other methods of therapy. The authors also could have done a bit more work contextualizing their results based on the fact that they were involved in "brief" therapy - that is, they had a definite time limit on sessions with patients so they had to come up with different ideas.

Highly recommended.

33 of 36 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose September 3, 2001

By Susan G. Dunn

Format:Hardcover

Knowing the difference between first-order change, and second-order change can change your life! See if you can figure this out: "It obviously makes as difference whether we consider ourselves as pawns in a game whose rules we call reality or as players of the game who know that rules are 'real' only to the extent that we have created or accepted them, and that we can change them." This is pretty much what this book is about. And this, "When a person enters therapy, he is fully entrenched in a dilemma: what he wishes to attain has become all the more important and urgent ... and because of this urgency it is all the more important that no risk of falure be involved in the eventual action." Complex stuff. I read it once, and now I'm back to read it again. It's hard to absorb it all the first time even though you know you're reading some pretty radical stuff that you probably ought to be acting upon!

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars I've wondered why Logical Change fails. - Now I Know June 17, 2000

By Edward G Wojdyla

Format:Hardcover

Over the last 15 years I have been involved with organizations undergoing major change. For all of those years I have tried to discover why change, that appears so essential to these companies, fails most of the time. I have searched for years for a logical answer.

I happend to notice the title of this book at a donated book sale at our local library.... I picked it and others up and proceeded to add it to the pile of books I would some day scan. On a long business flight I started to read this book.

I could not stop. As the authors laid out their ideas I covered the pages with notes.

Finaly a logical explanation of why change, even obviously necessary change, fails. Even more the begining of a method on how to make it work.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic in the Brief Therapy Literature April 16, 2009

By Brandon Schultz

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Although I have seen this book referenced many times and read several summaries of its main tenets, I have only recently had the opportunity to read the entire book. I wish now that this book was required reading in my graduate counseling program because it is simply fantastic.

The authors start with an esoteric theory of groups, classes, games without end, etc., and then move into application through several interesting clinical examples. In short, the basic idea is that there are two approaches to change; the simplistic, commonsense approach, which often blows up in our faces, or a "second-order" type of change where the assumptions around the problem are questioned. The most serious difficulties we run into in life require second-order change, yet we often chase our tails trying to solve them with "commonsense" solutions that go nowhere. This book is a primer for approaching problems in new ways.

It is also a must read for counselors and coaches.

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Mindboggling! February 7, 2003

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover

This is a great book on the mind. It shows us that we don't really need to know the mechanisms of things to make it work. Just like we don't have to know how a car works in order to drive it. The mind is the same way. Never mind the mechanisms it involves but if you do this and this, a person will do this and this. And surprisingly, although most of the suggestions are counterintuitive, most of the things discussed in the book actually work when we try it out on others. Try it and you will see! If you want to know why these things work, I'd suggest you read "The Ever-Transcending Spirit" by Toru Sato. It is a very insightful book about relationships and consciousness. If you get the message, you will know why the things suggested in Watzlawick's books actually work. Happy reading!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant analysis of the nature of change August 22, 1998

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover

The way we think and act, how we become fixed with certain patterns, how we often view ourselves and our world - all of these are analysed in this magnificent book. No pseudo-theories, just some of the brightest ideas I've ever come across.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Acute insight on mechanism of change and learning September 20, 1998

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover

Gives a very stimulating view of how change can happen, how conflicts can be avoided, how we can learn to improve our interaction with people around us. Very useful also for people who don't actually work in the field of psychology. It would constitute a good read for organizations of any kind.