THE MANDALA OF PSYCHOTHERAPY: THE UNIVERSAL USE OF PARADOX-NEW UNDERSTANDING AND MORE CONFUSION

Regardless of differences in definition, paradox is widely practiced and written about in the psychotherapy literature. This article suggests a graphic "mandala" as a way of examining paradox based on three dimensions involved in the paradoxical intervention: type of delivery ("hard" or "soft"); type of patient ("neurotic" or "psychotic"); degree of explicitness or implicitness. The implications of this mandala for therapists are discussed including the need to heighten awareness of the little understood and delicate interaction between the therapist's personality, the type of client, and the strategic paradoxical interventions used in treatment.