Friedman's Fables [Hardcover]

Edwin H. Friedman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 28, 1990

Dr. Friedman has woven 24 illustrative tales that offer fresh perspectives on familiar human foibles and reflect the author's humor, pathos, and understanding. Friedman takes on resistance and other "demons" to show that neither insight, nor encouragement, nor intimidation can in themselves motivate an unmotivated person to change. These tales playfully demonstrate that new ideas, new questions, and imagination, more than accepted wisdom, provide each of us with the keys to overcoming stubborn emotional barriers and facilitating real change both in ourselves and others. Thought-provoking discussion questions for each fable are included. Sure to intrigue and inform, this book belongs in the resource library of public speakers, teachers, trainers, and clergy, as well as general readers.

Editorial Reviews

From Scientific American

Ed Friedman, with humor, wisdom, and a devious mind, has created a series of fables that highlight the classic dilemmas and struggles of relationships. His characters haunt the reader long after the stories are over and inflict insight better than any formal interpretation ever could. These parables make great lessons and great reading for those caught in the web of trying to change another person or themselves.

Review

Add the quixotic touch of a rabbi to the adroit questions of a family therapist. Enough already? No. Add an Aesop-like creativity....These fables are fun and teasing, some probing, some coy, and some poignant. Wow, it's a goose! It's a read!' --Carl Whitaker, M.D.

Teaching by parable is an old and honorable tradition. Ed Friedman, beloved rabbi and noted family therapist, is a great modern master of the art. FRIEDMAN'S FABLES is a delight, of course. These stories are funny, but they are also profound, provocative, even shocking, as they present crucial truths of systemic thinking, vital lessons of family therapy and family life, and a slyly modern, hard-nosed re-evaluation of the wisdom of the ages. Friedman is using these stories to punctuate his lessons, lessons to therapists and to anyone else who expects to deal with people, lessons about human relationships, human suffering, and human integrity. One emerges with a great sense of the wisdom and humanity of Ed Friedman himself.' --Frank Pittman, M.D.

Ed Friedman, with humor, wisdom, and a devious mind, has created a series of fables that highlight the classic dilemmas and struggles of relationships. His characters haunt the reader long after the stories are over and inflict insight better than any formal interpretation ever could. These parables make great lessons and great reading for those caught in the web of trying to change another person or themselves.' --Carol Anderson, Ph.D.

I used a fable for my sermon, and you could have heard a pin drop by the end....I find the book thoroughly delightful and powerful.' --The Rev. Henry C. Galganowicz, Rector, Emmanuel Episcopal Church, Weston, Connecticut

"The book had an unexpected effect. I found myself more creative in the therapy sessions that followed, almost as if I had been granted some internal form of permission to co-create a story alongside the stuck stories of so many of my clients.... The stories...had, in effect, stimulated my own story-telling ability."--AFTA Newsletter

(AFTA Newsletter 19900930)

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 213 pages
• Publisher: The Guilford Press; 1 edition (September 28, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0898624401
• ISBN-13: 978-0898624403
• Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 1 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #52,910 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #79 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Psychology & Counseling > Counseling

More About the Author

The late Edwin Friedman was an ordained rabbi and practicing family therapist. His ground-breaking work, Generation to Generation, exposed the emotional connections between home and work in religious, educational, therapeutic, and business systems, and has become a modern classic. A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix, is an acclaimed work on leadership. Friedman died in 1996.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Storytelling in the classic tradition June 22, 2000

By Israel Galindo

Format:Hardcover

More parables than fables, Friedman's genius as a storyteller in the rabbinic tradition shines through. This collection of short fables are ingenious studies of human nature from a Family Systems point of view. Though the book has many uses for teaching and therapy, its best use is pure enjoyment!

32 of 34 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars I have used these fables with recovering addicts. October 24, 1998

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover

I took a leap with the idea that the fable of "The Bridge" would be a helpful teaching tool for my group of recovering alcoholics and addicts. They listened attentively to the story of the man handing a stranger the end of the rope and then jumping. Many of them could relate to the feelings of being stuck and with the moral and ethical dilemma of having to make a critical decision. I plan to use other fables from the collection after such a lively discussion. Never underestimate the abilities of people in recovery to benefit from meaningful dialogue.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Review by Rabbi G. Lilienthal, Ph.D. June 8, 2005

By Dr. G. Lilienthal

Format:Hardcover

Friedman's Fables are a resonant statement by a very quiet man. Ed Friedman was that quiet man. He constructed a modern use for the ancient form of allegory, first used in King Solomon's written works, to drive home difficult-to-accept truths and ethical principles, in a group setting. His "fables" are the outcome of his many years of psychoanalytic work in very large congregational groups, and in my view, are a work of genius. Each fable deals with a different aspect of the group unconscious, and facilitates a ready demonstration of the inevitable group acting out that results from the return of the repressed.