Haley

Running head: HALEY

Haley

Candice Ebbesen-Ross

Seton Hall University

 Problem-solving therapy, as practiced by Jay Haley (1987), focused on the problems that families bring to therapy that he defines as “a type of behavior that is part of a sequence of acts among several persons” and the repeated sequences of behavior around the problems (p.2). Haley’s (1987) approach differs from many others in that the focus of his therapy is on the social situation or the social units rather than on the individual or an individual’s symptomatic behavior. He views symptoms as methods of adaptation

to social situations that can be eliminated or relieved only by changing the social situation. A colleague of Gregory Bateson, he emphasized the therapists’ role in participating in the creation of the problem since it is the therapist’s task, according to Haley (1987), to help the family define the problem and to design interventions and directives that interrupt and correct the repeated sequences around the problem.

Haley’s (1987) outline for conducting the first therapy session or interview is perhaps his most important contribution to therapeutic technique. The outline is based on his belief that problems must be viewed in their contexts, and, therefore, therapists must meet with all the individuals who interact around the problem - usually the family or the couple -- to bring about change. To understand the context of the problem, the therapist must gather information from the clients on their social situation (gender, culture, ethnicity, socioeconomic data.), how the clients view the problem, and get a glimpse of the repeated interactions around the problem. The first interview begins with the first contact - normally a phone call - in which the therapist begins forming a therapeutic hypothesis based on who calls for the appointment and the diagnostic information gathered from that person (including names, addresses, referral source, ages, occupations, and previous treatment). The therapist invites the entire social group involved in the problem to the first interview, if possible, including grandparents, foster parents, god parents, step parents, and, in some cases, teachers, social workers, or police officers. The five stages of the first interview are; 1) the social stage in which the therapist greets all the clients while at the same time observing physical proximity, the mood of the group, nonverbal and verbal communication, and the relationships between the adults and the parents and children; 2) the problem stage during which the therapist asks about each person’s perspective on the problem, paying particular attention to whom they assign responsibility for the problem and the changes they would like to see; 3) the interaction stage in which the family is asked to discuss the problem directly; 4) the goal-setting stage during which the family works with the therapist to come up with concrete, measurable, and achievable treatment goals; and 5) the task-setting stage in which the therapist gives simple and realistic directives to alter repeated, dysfunctional behavioral sequences.

Directives, or tasks, are the main tools used by strategic therapists to achieve treatment goals in therapy that usually involve a change in the client’s behavior. Directives can be straightforward or indirect, with the later used when the therapist has the authority to direct the client to make changes and the former used when the therapist has less authority. Indirect directives ask the client to do something for the purpose of getting them doing something else, so that the change happens spontaneously, as when a therapist tells a grandmother to take over all of the parenting duties for a week when in actuality they give the directive to get the grandmother less involved and the mother more involved. Indirect directives are viewed by Haley (1987) as the key to promoting change since most people will not stop behaviors or try new behaviors because they are told by the therapist to do so, and the therapist does not have the ability to enforce directives. Metaphoric tasks are assigned to clients in situations where it is not appropriate to let the client know what changes the therapist wants to see in the family as when a therapist is trying to get a powerful mother to be less critical of her son. Telling the mother directly to not be so negative about her son could bring a quick end to the therapy while asking her to write a note inviting him to dinner may indirectly encourage her to deal with her son in a positive manner. Paradoxical tasks utilize the client’s resistance to the therapist in order to bring about change, especially in families that