Harold A. Goolishian

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Harold A. Goolishian (born May 9, 1924 in Lowell , Massachusetts , † November 10, 1991 in Galveston , Texas ) was an American psychologist , pioneer of family therapy and long-time holder of the chair of clinical psychology at the Galveston Medical School of the University of Texas . He is regarded as the “leading figure” of the narrative approach in systemic therapy and founded the Galveston Family Institute in Texas in 1977 - together with Harlene Anderson , Paul Dell and George Pulliam .

Life stations

In 1953, Goolishian graduated from the University of Houston with a degree in psychology , and by the 1950s he developed Multiple Impact Therapy , a family therapy program that involved intensive sessions with adolescents and their families. Throughout his entire career, he was always on the lookout for new ideas, opportunities and solutions. In the 1960s he oriented himself on Gregory Bateson's results in Palo Alto , after which he expanded systemic therapy to include the factors language and listening . After founding the Galveston Family Institute, he put the narrative at the center of his innovations. It was only after more than thirty years of practice and continuous research that Gollishian gained greater attention in the last five years of his life with his and Harlene Anderson's work on the problem-determined system.

Goolishian spent his entire professional life in Texas and worked for decades with Harlene Anderson , who also became his successor at the institute. Around Goolishian gathered - particularly in the later years - a number of students, trainees and observers, some years in the Galveston Family Institute worked, such as Jay Solomon, Victor Loos, Susan Levin, Jamie Razer, Harry Merl from Linz and Gerda Mehta from Vienna , Gianfranco Cecchin from Milan , Tom Andersen from Tromsø , Karl Tomm from Calgary or Eugene Epstein and Margit Epstein , who both practice in Oldenburg today. In the 80s he was one of the co-founders of the systemic family therapy course at the Psychotherapeutic Institute Bergerhausen in Germany, together with Harlene Anderson and Hans-Werner Gessmann .

Basic understanding

“The systems we work with only exist in language, and therefore problems only exist in language. The aim of therapy is not to find solutions to problems, but to participate in a process in the course of which a language is developed in which the problem no longer exists. "

- Harold A. Goolishian

Art of dialogue

Goolishian's approach is social and constructivist . In his eyes, human systems are language-creating and generate meaning. Meaning and understanding are culturally and interpersonal “constructed” and thus create reality . And precisely because contexts of meaning are organized in the form of stories, the therapist's focus must be on the language, on the way in which clients tell their situation, their problems and their story, the narrative, but also on how the common one Therapeutic experience evolves through narration and how the original narrative changes.

Essential publications

In English

  • with Paul F. Dell: Order through fluctuation: An evolutionary epistemology for human systems. Australian Journal of Family Therapy 2 (1981): pp. 175-184.
  • with Harlene Anderson and Lee Winderman: Problem determined systems: Towards transformation in family therapy. Journal of Strategic and Systemic Therapy 5 (1986): pp. 1-14.
  • with Harlene Anderson, George Pulliam, and Lee Winderman: The Galveston Family Institute: A personal and historical perspective. In: Efran (Ed.): Journeys: Expansions of the Strategic-Systemic Therapies. New York 1986, pp. 97-124.
  • with Harlene Anderson: Language Systems and Therapy - An Evolving Idea. Psychotherapy 24 (1987): pp. 529-538.
  • with Harlene Anderson: Human Systems as Linguistic Systems: Preliminary and Evolving Ideas about the Implications for Clinical Theory. Family Process 27 (1988): pp. 371-393.
  • with Harlene Anderson: Beyond Cybernetics. Family Process, 29 (1990): pp. 157-163.

In German language

The following contributions were co- authored with Harlene Anderson :

  • Human systems: what problems they pose to us and how we work with them. In: Reiter, Brunner, Reiter-Theil (ed.): From family therapy to a systemic perspective. Springer, Berlin 1988, pp. 189-216.
  • Human systems as linguistic systems. Familiendynamik 15. 1990, pp. 212-243.
  • Therapy as a system in language: telling stories and not knowing in therapies. Systems 6. 1992, pp. 15-21.
  • The client is an expert: a therapeutic approach of not knowing. Z. for systemic therapy 10. 1992, pp. 176-189.

proof

  1. ↑ Stumm, Pritz (Ed.): Personal Lexicon of Psychotherapy. Vienna, New York 2005, p. 179.
  2. ^ A b Jürgen Kriz: Basic concepts of psychotherapy. 6th, completely revised edition. Weinheim 2007, p. 287.
  3. ↑ Brandl-Nebehay et al. (Ed.): Systemic family therapy. Vienna 1998, 50f

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Goolishian, Harold A.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Goolishian, Harold
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American family therapy pioneer
DATE OF BIRTH May 9, 1924
PLACE OF BIRTH Lowell, Massachusetts
DATE OF DEATH November 10, 1991
Place of death Galveston, Texas