Psihološka Obzorja (Jun 2000)
Cybernetics of change and stability in the context of counselling and therapeutic work with client system
Abstract
The authoress defines the cybernetic concept of change and stability as a suitable description of constituting and maintaining the contex of counselling and therapeutic work with the client system. She explains the concept of first- and second-order change together with the (usual) strategies for bringing forth first-order changes and second-order changes and different problem definitions as well as problem solutions, arising from the kind of changes created. The description of constitution and maintenance of the context of counselling and therapeutic work with the client system is summarized in the form of general views and strategies of cybernetic use of the concept of change and stability, such as: (a)co-creation of the context for the development of desirable changes, (b) testing the order of change needed for the desirable problem solution, (c) common design of a plan of possible steps for bringing forth the desired changes, (d) regular verification of epistemological assumptions of the counsellor or the therapist as well as of the client system regarding problem and solution understanding, regular verification (and redefinition) of agreement on the desirable outcome of the problem all the way to the agreement on its realization.
