Dealing with negative connotations in family therapeutic treatment of an enmeshed family: A case study

1996

In psychotherapy the moments when negative connotations of diagnostic remarks become apparent are also the moments for change. To be able to use those moments for positive outcome calls for, according to this case study: 1) An inquiring approach and attitude to therapeutic work which translates to the challenging of basic hypotheses and the unambiguous meaning of diagnostic signs starting from the referral and continuing through the treatment process. 2) The integration of the nonverbal experiential technique with the verbal reflective approach, which can be conceptualized as a double description of the problem situation, and which allows reframing, or recontextualization. 3) A diagnostic c…