AP+P2+2014-15+Paradoxical+Intention

Paradoxical Intention:

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Aim (Kyra): The aim for paradoxical intention has to start with the definition of the term. It means that someone is doing what they fear or dislike; they do it without truly understanding why, even if they dislike doing it to begin with. An article concerning this states, “ A person with a fear of the dark would walk in a different place every night. A person afraid of being unable to sleep tries to stay awake. A compulsive house cleaner would be told to learn to enjoy dust and messes, maybe even add some dirt here and there” (“Paradoxical Intention”). This is an attempt to try and understand the fear or dislike on a deeper level; the aim for introducing it into a work would be to get someone to realize what they are doing instead of subconsciously shying away from it. While paradoxical intention is not an attempt to get the patient to overcome their fear or dislike, it is not understandable to the person doing it; they simply do it without true intention. Aim for paradoxical intention may incorporate a method of getting others to do the same for possible therapy, or it may call attention to the phenomenon itself; it’s not conscious, but it has a purpose.

Source: "Chapter 14: Paradoxical Intention." Psychological Self-Help. Self-Help Corporation, n.d. Web. 15 Sept. 2015.



Area: Audience Name: Dennis Chau Explanation: Paradoxical intention is aimed at those who suffer from any bad behaviors or psychoses and intend to change themselves. Viktor Frankl, the creator of logotherapy, stated “if we wish to recondition a conditioned reflex, we must unhinge the vicious cycle formed by anticipatory anxiety, and this is the very job done by our paradoxical intention technique.” (Weeks 100). People form fears based the consequences of their actions, and thus become afraid of showing what they fear as well as how they react to that fear. Phobias, then, arise from the person’s desire to avoid situations which show their fear, and in seeing the fear the person builds up anxiety. It is usually not the actual fear that creates anxiety, but the “flight from fear” or “fight the fear” mentality that does. The reason fighting the fear is also an ineffective method of overcoming phobias is because the person does not come to truly understand why they act a certain way in certain situations. Just as a soldier will fire back at an enemy, the phobia or obsession will create a counterpressure against the attempt to fight back and strengthen the fear or compulsion. Paradoxical intention tries to identify the object that the person relates to fear, rather than try to fight or avoid fear itself. By exposing the person to that which they connect with fear, he or she is able to identify the causes and effects of the fear and change it. The client or patient is essentially told to embrace what they fear and turn it into an everyday occurrence without any emotional ties to it.

Source: Weeks, Gerald. Promoting Change Through Paradoxical Therapy. New York: Brunner Mazel, 1991. Print.

Ariel Solis Historical: Paradoxical intention is a therapeutic technique of logotherapy that was validated after it was developed and practiced by the famous Austrian neurologist Viktor Frankl in the 1920s. Viktor Frankl had survived in a Nazi concentration camp during World War 2, using the existence there as a part of his work. It was a new and original approach to conventional practices for mental treatments. Logotherapy, also known as “existential analysis”, is based on the ideas of its founder Viktor Frankl. Frankl’s ideas were used to “emphasize the human capacity to perceive meaning in their lives.” It was made as a newer model to that of psychotherapy, but instead centered around the meaning one found for their life; commonly helping with a wide range of anxiety conditions. Using paradoxical intention “By replacing anxiety with humor, clients were able to stop the cycle that repeated their problem.” (Batthyany). In order to help, these clients were often immersed in whatever was the source for their problem. This was due to the fact that humans usually adapt rather than deal with the problem. Frankl realized how the behavior he witnessed before the therapy deprived many of their meanings for life and with his procedures he could help one bring about greater purpose in their life. Some crucial core components of paradoxical intention include the non-manipulative relationships between the therapist and the client, and taking care to explain to the client what paradoxical intention is and how it works specifically with the client’s problems. It also is important that the therapist assists the client so that they fully participate in the treatment and to counteract any anxiety that they may experience during the treatment with humor. Sources: Batthyany, Alexander. "VIKTOR FRANKL INSTITUT. Logotherapy and Existential Analysis." VIKTOR FRANKL INSTITUT. Logotherapy and Existential Analysis. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Sept. 2015.

Hawk, Ray, and E. E. Hubbard. "What Is Paradoxical Intention?" WiseGeek. Conjecture, n.d. Web. 15 Sept. 2015.



Alec Scott Cultural The idea of paradoxical intentions played a major role in the expansion of applications of philosophy. The development of paradoxical intentions in psychology, as well as the expansion of logotherapy lead to significant conflict among psychologists over the classification of logotherapy as being either scientific or faith based. Arguments have been made that logotherapy is completely divorced from the scientific method. That is not to say that it has been rejected, instead it has been mostly embraced, just not as strict psychology. As justified by Edith Weisskopf-Joelson, “It is the first purpose of this note to show that Logotherapy, the school of therapy founded by Viktor E. Frankl, is not a "scientific" psychotherapeutic school in the traditional sense but that it is, instead, a philosophy of life, a system of values, a secular religion” (Logotherapy, Science or Faith), showing both the support for the ideas championed by Viktor Frankl, as well as the opposition to it being categorized as psychology.

Source: [|__http://class.vail.k12.az.us/shinglerd-apcomp/files/2014/10/AP-Logotherapy-Science-or-Faith.pdf__]

Viktor Frankl: