Review of Change: Principles of Problem Formation and Problem Resolution by Paul Watzlawick, John H. Weakland, Richard Fisch

Life has its difficulties--aches and pains, disagreements and disputes, disappointments and discomforts. So whether or not our lives are satisfying is often a matter of whether we manage life's difficulties constructively--or whether we mismanage these difficulties and make them worse.

This is the starting-point of the little book by psychologists Paul Watzlawick, John H. Weakland, and Richard Fisch. The book basically divides into three parts: (1) Describing ways life's difficulties are sometimes mismanaged, thus turning them into full-blown *problems* (chapters 3-6). (2) Describing ways that people can give up the dysfunctional "solutions" they've been practicing, and trade them for different, healthy management of life's difficulties (chapters 7-9). (3) Real-life examples of steps (1) and (2) in action, taken from clinical practice (chapter 10).

The authors have done a masterful job: their examples illustrate their methods, and their methods illuminate the examples. The authors often offer suggestions seem appear counter-intuitive; for instance, while psychologists are often portrayed as seeking the "root causes" of patients' psychological problems in earlier traumatic events, Watzlawick et al actually advise *against* asking such "why"-questions in certain cases:

"It often happens that we...become aware of the important *facts*," they write, quoting philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein, "only if we *suppress* the question 'Why?'" (page 84).

This "Don't Ask Why"-principle comes to the fore in several clinical cases described in Chapter 10. Here's one such case: Strange as it may seem, the authors observe,

"...quite a few people seem to enter therapy not for the purpose of resolving a problem and being themselves changed in the process, but [instead] behave as if they wanted to *defeat* the expert and presumably 'prove'...that their problem *cannot* be solved" (page 132).

Patients/Clients like this will often ask for advice, then immediately *reject* the advice, pointing to obstacles that "prevent" them from acting on the (good) advice. (Psychiatrist Eric Berne has famously called this the "Why Don't You...?/Yes, but..." Game.) In response, the authors advise against "the time-honored exercise in futility of asking *why* some people should play the game of...'Help me, but I won't let you'..." Rather, the therapist needs to simply "*accept* the fact that there *are* such people, [and] concentrate [instead] on *what* they are doing...and *what* can be done about it" (page 138).

I only have one small complaint about this book. In the first two chapters, the authors introduce their "Theoretical Perspective" by drawing on some rather advanced subjects in mathematics: Group Theory (a domain of Abstract Algebra) and Bertrand Russell's Theory of Logical Types (a construct of Modern Set Theory). Most readers' eyes may glaze over at this early point in the book.

Since I was a math major in college, though, I found that the authors really didn't need the actual mathematical examples. So I might offer a bit of advice to readers who don't want to be distracted by the authors' (mercifully brief) foray into advanced math:

1) Whenever the authors talk about "groups" or "group theory," just think of "re-arranging deck chairs on the Titanic" or when a client "trades one addiction for another." In other words: the pieces and faces might change, but not the basic "game"

2) Whenever the authors talk about the "theory of types" or "meta-levels," just think of the client's need to "take a step back" or "take a broader perspective on their problem (and the failed solutions they have attempted)."

Aside from that minor quibble, I found this to be an insightful and thought-provoking book about a deeply important Life-topic.