Review article

https://doi.org/10.24869/psyd.2022.407

PHENOMENOLOGY OF NON-ORDINARY LOGICS IN BRIEF STRATEGIC THERAPY

Luis A. Centeno-Gándara orcid.org/0000-0002-9105-077X ; Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital “Dr. José Eleuterio González”, Autonomous University of Nuevo Leon, Nuevo Leon, Mexico
Ana Lucila Vales-Rodríguez ; Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital “Dr. José Eleuterio González”, Autonomous University of Nuevo Leon, Nuevo Leon, Mexico
Erasmo Saucedo-Uribe ; Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital “Dr. José Eleuterio González”, Autonomous University of Nuevo Leon, Nuevo Leon, Mexico

Abstract

Brief Strategic Therapy (BST) is a psychosocial treatment for mental disorders based on a unique theory of psychological
dysfunction that differs from major psychotherapy approaches in that psychological dysfunction follows non-ordinary logics rather
than classic logical principles. BST contends that there are three different kinds of non-ordinary logics that underpin psychological
dysfunction: the logic of contradiction, the logic of paradox, and the logic of belief. BST therapeutic strategies are based on these
non-ordinary logics processes. Unfortunately, descriptions and case examples of these non-ordinary logics are scattered among a
myriad of books so that it is difficult for the clinician to get acquainted with them. Additionally, BST literature has described these nonordinary
logics with a somewhat obscure and metaphorical language that might be difficult for the clinician to grasp. Herein, we
condensate descriptions and case examples of the three non-ordinary logics, clarify the phenomenological processes of each of the
classes of non-ordinary logics, and highlight research findings from different theoretical orientations that are coherent and consistent
with our phenomenological accounts of non-ordinary logics. Based on our clinical observations, non-ordinary logics can be distinguished
by three variables: (a) the immediate effect of the dysfunctional attempted solution (DAS), (b) the long-term effect of the DAS,
and (c) the most salient mental phenomenon associated with the DAS that maintains a psychological problem. This advancement could
foster clinicians’ ability to identify non-ordinary logics and their ability to devise appropriate strategies to solve psychological problems.

Keywords

mental processes; non-ordinary logics; phenomenology; psychopathology; strategic therapy

Hrčak ID:

290234

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/290234

Publication date:

3.11.2022.

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