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WITTGENSTEIN, DE SHAZER, AND THE ONE-ON-ONES AS LANGUAGE GAMES
Abstract
When Steve de Shazer and his team applied the Wittgensteinian philosophy in therapy, they revolutionized the field while they discovered brief therapy. Was it an accidental coincidence? What was the role of Wittgensteinian philosophy in creating the theoretical and practical space of brief therapy? What are the exact consequences of treating a one on one meeting as a language game - let it be a therapy session, a coaching, or a personal meeting between the leader and a team member? Can we revolutionize one on ones with employees, or one on one coaching sessions simply applying this approach? What can be the results? We know well that Solution Focused coaching is originated in Solution Focused brief therapy. Can we bare it more? What happens if we keep only this part of the brief therapy of de Shazer? How could it influence the setup of the meeting? How could it influence the possible outcomes? What is the role of this part in the practical-theoretical puzzle behind brief therapy, and how can we utilize it in todayВ’s fast-changing business environment either as leaders or as coaches in our one on one meetings? In this paper - after introducing the Wittgensteinian concept of language game - it will be applied to conversations in general, and then on one on ones. Three different examples show how settings can change if one of the discussion partners consciously applies this concept in understanding the other person in the dialogue. This person can be the manager, the coach, the therapist, but it can be the team member, the client, the patient as well. Finally, the most important questions are not theoretical but rather practical ones: How this change in our attitude will influence our way of being in the situation? What opportunities open up by this transformation? What do we lose or risk in the change? When does it worth it?
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References5
de Shazer S., Putting Difference to Work. New York: W.W. Norton, 1991.
Miller G., de Shazer S., Beyond Complaints. A Foundation of Brief Therapy I., InterAction - The Journal of Solution Focus in Organisations, Volume 1, Number 2, November, pp78-102, 2009
Wittgenstein, L., Philosophical Investigations. G.E.M. Anscombe and R. Rhees (eds.), G.E.M. Anscombe (trans.), Oxford: Blackwell, 1953.
Miller G., Wittgenstein and Solution-Focused Therapy. A Misreading. Ratkes, pp12-17, 2003.
de Shazer S., The Death of Resistance, Family Process, vol 23 pp11-17, 1984
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