Aesthetics of Change by Bradford

Aesthetics of Change by Bradford P. Keeney

One of the most striking aspects of psychotherapeutic approaches to behavioral disorders has been the diversity of opinion concerning what is the most appropriate technique for a given set of circumstances. The views on psychotherapy have run the gamut from Freud to Jung to Rogers and others who have all asserted the superiority of their views over others; in this regard, Bradford P. Keeney is no exception. In his book, Aesthetics of Change, Keeney provides clinicians with some guidance based on his clinical research into therapeutic practice. Of this approach, Kenney reports that the systemic therapies analyzed in the book were selected based on their direct connection to the ideas of communication and cybernetic theory; in this regard, the author employs the term "systemic family therapies" to identify the different therapeutic techniques that emerge from this framework. While other family therapy techniques are also associated with this same tradition of concepts, Kenney notes that the therapies examined in Aesthetics of Change are those that are the most clearly related to a cybernetic view of human communication and context.

Keeney (1983) proposes that relational reality is co-constructed in a linguistic domain; in this regard, the term "meaningful Rorschach" is used in this book by Kenney to indicate a communication that is affected by an observing system. What is considered to be "meaningful" is based on the action of a specific observer; in other words, if an individual believes that there is a message in a communication, that person will search for meaning that will help to mentally develop that concept.

The sources of such specific observation systems can be related to family history, cultural myth, religious metaphor, and stories about others, whether they are fictional or not. Such descriptions and explanations represent the best clues for what type of "meaningful Rorschach" will be effective in any given setting.

According to Kenney, it is the responsibility of clinicians to use their sensory processes to determine how these communications are articulated and to then to reflect them back to the communication system that is experiencing difficulties. This recursive mirroring process is described by Kenney as being "sociofeedback" that people can use to help readjust their relationships with their environment. In sum, the author maintains that it is the clinician's mirroring or articulation of the different communications of a troubled family environment allows the system to readjust how it regulates its organization to ensure its survival.