Motivation and emotion/Book/2024/Paradoxical interventions

Paradoxical Interventions: How can they facilitate psychological change?

Multimedia presentation (3 min)

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Overview

Case study: Daniel Figure 1. Viktor Frankl: Austrian Psychologist Daniel struggles with anxiety centered around his academic performance and is intensely afraid of academic failure. He goes to a session with his therapist and expresses his anxiety over the exam he is undertaking the next day. His therapists proposes an outlandish suggestion: "try your hardest to fail this exam". Daniel sits down for his exam the next day and thinks of what his therapists told him. Daniel cannot help but find it humorous and is relaxed due to the ridiculousness of the suggestion. Daniel then proceeds to do his best to fail. For the first time, Daniel found the ability to relax while doing the exam and passed. - Based on a real interaction that Viktor Frankl had with a client (Browning, & Hull, 2021)

What if I told you that the only way to overcome your fear was to directly face it? What if I told you the only way to take control of your “problematic” behavior or habits is to keep doing it? What if I told you that the only way to overcome your struggle, is to let yourself struggle?

These ideas are at the heart of Paradoxical Interventions (PI). PIs are a clinical technique used to encourage flexibility in clients’ thinking and promote behavioral change (Peluso & Freund, 2023). Bring up PIs to anyone who is remotely involved in the psychotherapy world, and they will likely claim this technique as just being “reverse psychology”, “unethical”, “manipulative”, “coercive”, and so on (Browning & Hull, 2021). However, these conceptions are derived from the early use of PIs, from misunderstandings of how PIs work, and from a lack of knowledge of when, and how to use them. That is to say that PIs are not without flaws and risks associated with them, but they are not without merit. The goal of this book chapter is to explain and discuss the concept of PIs in the context of psychotherapy and how they can facilitate psychological and motivational change. The discussion will be broken down as follows:

How can PIs facilitate psychological change?

1.      What is PI and how does it work?

2.      How can PIs be used effectively?

3.      What are the issues/risks that come with PI?

What is paradoxical intervention and how does it work?

Intro paragraph

(Browning & Hull, 2021)

(Peluso & Freund, 2023)

(Hameiri, et al. 2018)

Subheading 1

• Point 1
• Point 2
• Point 3

Subheading 2

• Point 1
• Point 2
• Point 3

How can paradoxical interventions be used effectively

Intro paragraph

(Gentelet & Widdowson, 2016)

(Hatoum, & Burton, 2024)

(Knab, et al. 2021)

Subheading 1

• Point 1
• Point 2
• Point 3

Subheading 2

• Point 1
• Point 2
• Point 3

Issues and risks of paradoxical interventions

Intro paragraph

(Lanza, et al. 2018)

Subheading 1

• Point 1
• Point 2
• Point 3

Subheading 2

• Point 1
• Point 2
• Point 3

Learning features

1 Viktor Frankl was the first to clarify the concept of paradox as a social construct and as a clinical intervention?:

	True
	False

2 paradoxical interventions are just reverse psychology?:

	True
	False

Conclusion

• The Conclusion is arguably the most important section
• Suggested word count: 150 to 330 words
• It should be possible for someone to only read the Overview and the Conclusion and still get a pretty good idea of the problem and what is known based on psychological science

Suggestions for this section: What is the answer to the sub-title question based on psychological theory and research? What are the answers to the focus questions? What are the practical, take-home messages? (Even for the topic development, have a go at the likely take-home message)

See also

Provide internal (wiki) links to the most relevant Wikiversity pages (esp. related motivation and emotion book chapters) and Wikipedia articles. Use these formats:

• Light triad (Book chapter, 2021)
• Collaborative authoring using wiki (Wikiversity)
• Self determination theory (Wikipedia)

Suggestions for this section: Present in alphabetical order Use sentence casing Include the source in parentheses

References

Browning, S., & Hull, R. (2021). Reframing paradox. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 52(4), 360-367. https://doi.org/10.1037/pro0000384

Gentelet, B., & Widdowson, M. (2016). Paradoxical alliances in transactional analysis psychotherapy for anxiety: A systematic adjudicated case study. Transactional Analysis Journal 26(3), 182-195. https://doi.org/10.1177/0362153716650657

Hameiri, B., Nabet, E., Bar-Tal, D., & Halperin, E. (2018). Paradoxical thinking as a conflict-resolution intervention: Comparison to alternative interventions and examination of psychological mechanisms. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 44(1), 122-139. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167217736048

Hatoum, A.H., & Burton, A.L. (2024). Applications and efficacy of radically open dialectical behavior therapy (RO DBT): A systematic review of the literature. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 1(1), 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.23735

Knab, N., Winter, K., & Steffens, M.C. (2021). Flexing the extremes: Increasing cognitive flexibility with paradoxical leading questions intervention. Social Cognition, 39(2), 225-242. https://doi.org/10.1521/soco.2021.39.2.225

Lanza, C., Christine, M., & Riepe, M. W. (2018). Positive mood on negative self-statements: Paradoxical intervention in geriatric patients with major depressive disorder. Aging & Mental Health, 22(6), 748-754. https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2017.1306834

Peluso, P. R., & Freund, R. (2023). Paradoxical interventions: A meta-analysis. Psychotherapy, 60(3), 283-294. https://doi.org/10.1037/pst0000481

Resources

• Paradoxical intention: What is it and how and when to use it?
• Sad music and emotion: What is the effect of sad music on emotion? Section 5. The Tragedy Paradox
• Viktor Frankl's Method to Overcome Fear (Paradoxical Intention)
• Reality Therapy Role-Play - Paradoxical Intervention

Suggestions for this section: Only select links to major external resources about the topic Present in alphabetical order Include the source in parentheses after the link