The “treatment-risk paradox” is a situation in which patients at high risk for adverse events receive less-intensive treatment than do patients at lower risk. In two recent studies, investigators explored this curious pattern in the treatment of cardiovascular conditions.
What are some examples of paradoxical interventions?
10CTI: Don't think about a paradox. Paradoxical interventions involve prescribing the very symptom the client wants to resolve. It's a complex concept often equated with reverse psychology. For example: the client fears failure, so the therapist asks the client to fail at something. A man has problems with procrastination,...
Can paradoxical tasks cure Sarah?
Sarah, as I had promised, was cured by my paradoxical task. It had taken her an hour to do what she had been terrified might happen at any second. Not being able to do something you previously felt you couldn’t help but do is a major perceptual reframe.
Can we use paradox in small ways?
Now I’m not suggesting that you necessarily do stuff as dramatic and ‘crazy’ as what I’ve mentioned here. But we can use paradox in small ways too.
What is the ripple effect of Paradoxical therapy?
Later Sarah reported a happy ripple effect from this brief and paradoxical therapy. She started feeling more confident in her relationship and at work, and she even started exercising more and eating better. When we fear something, it seems to make sense to avoid it. And often it does make sense.
For fear of falling
A young woman, Sarah, came to see me. She worked as cabin crew on a well-known airline, a job that required her to be ‘on display’ to the public. But she told me she suffered from terrible self-consciousness.
How to play the fall
I went for the rational approach first, of course. But no matter how hard I tried to convince her other people surely wouldn’t laugh even if she were to fall over, she’d heard it all before and it made no difference now. So I decided to use a paradoxical approach.
Experience is the best teacher
Sarah showed up to the next week brimming with energy. I asked her what happened.
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Stop being pushed and pulled around
In martial arts such as judo and jujitsu, if you are pulled you push and if you are pushed you pull. The ‘problem’ (of your opponent’s force) isn’t resisted, but rather encouraged and then directed. You now control the force of the problem.
Tip two: Change a part to change the whole
No, I can’t do the Rubik’s cube either, but I have noticed that if you move one part of the cube the whole pattern of the cube changes. And sometimes solutions come from zigzag rather than straight-line thinking.
Tip three: Encourage the problem
Sarah, as I had promised, was cured by my paradoxical task. It had taken her an hour to do what she had been terrified might happen at any second. Not being able to do something you previously felt you couldn’t help but do is a major perceptual reframe.
What is the variation of pretending to have a symptom?
article continues after advertisement. A variation is to ask the patient to pretend to have the symptom. When a person is pretending to have a symptom, they are not having the real symptom. Secondary gain or positive reinforcement can be arranged for the pretend behavior so that it replaces the involuntary behavior.
What does prescribing a symptom do?
In prescribing the symptom, the therapist helps the client understand this need and determine how much control (if any) they have over the symptom. By choosing to manifest the symptom, they may recognize they can create it, and therefore have the power to stop or change it. You can see how this might get a bit dicey.
