Systemic advice

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Features of social systems in systems theory

Systemic counseling refers to the counseling of individuals or groups with regard to their respective social system in the respective context. Systemic counseling deals either with organizational counseling or with counseling regarding the family context . Systemic advice refers to systems theory , constructivism and second-order cybernetics .

subjects

Relationship between advice, therapy, coaching

Systemic counseling is primarily about strengthening the resources and competencies of the individual or group to be counseled and his / her social system. To emphasize this approach, systemic advice is often also referred to as "resource-oriented advice" or "solution-oriented advice". In contrast to the content-oriented, classic consulting approach of expert consulting, systemic consulting is predominantly process-oriented.

Further systemic counseling settings are:

The boundaries between systemic counseling and therapy are fluid.

methodology

The style of systemic counseling is usually indirect: no concrete solution should be proposed, the solution should arise from a process of self-reflection by the individual or the respective group ( self-organization ). According to the theory, problems result from constructed realities that are supposed to be irritated by systemic advice. The systemic advisor should not “presume” a solution (since this only results from his own constructed reality), the person seeking advice should not be restricted in his autonomy. Systemic advice is defined as helping people to help themselves.

Qualifications and different training standards

The use of the term systemic advice is not protected by law, so there is no standardized training concept. In Germany, the German Society for Systemic Therapy and Family Therapy (DGSF) and the Systemic Society (SG) in particular strive to establish training and quality standards. At the university level, for example, the Technical University of Kaiserslautern offers a postgraduate degree in systemic consultancy .

reception

In order to meet the constantly changing demands of the market, companies tend to "depoliticize" and to flatten hierarchies. Flat hierarchies threaten to give rise to a social structural problem in organizations: If hierarchical relationships become increasingly unclear, hierarchical orders and responsibilities have to be carried out in more or less covert rank battles (ongoing) among those involved: “Ultimately, the organization is nothing more than a world of Conflict. ”The initially aimed goal of“ depoliticization ”can turn into its opposite, according to Stefan Kühl to a politicization dilemma ,“ the less the group and organization members can be integrated towards a goal and the fewer instruments are available to to swear them to a centrally prescribed goal. ”In this regard, systemic advice has a blind spot: power is not recognized as an“ indispensable lubricant ”. It is not recognized that the quality of the communication of the individual parts of the organizational system (departments, employees among themselves) depends on formal / informal hierarchy structures. For example, when it comes to regulating the influence of each individual employee in a group, meaningful self-organization from the group alone is unlikely. Systemic counseling assumes that organizations consist of the communication processes of their members and ignores the theoretically justifiable category of power.

criticism

The criticism in the specialist literature focuses on the following aspects: (1.) the claim to scientific quality, (2.) the demarcation from psychotherapy and (3.) esotericism because of the lack of falsifiability. A science is a system of (operational) definitions, hypotheses and models for explaining, predicting and shaping reality. The systemic approach (in counseling and coaching) does not meet any of these characteristics. For example, the key term "systemic" is not operationally defined. Oswald Neuberger expresses this in the title of his essay as follows: “Oh, how good that nobody knows what one means systemically”. Proponents of the systemic approach claim that their concept is based on scientific concepts such as quantum physics, chaos theory, 2nd order cybernetics, synergetics, constructivism, autopoiesis etc .; however, they do not substantiate these claims by the intersubjectively verifiable statements customary in science. The terms used are either undefined or on a level of abstraction that does not allow any falsifiable statements about reality or practical recommendations.

The second point of criticism is the unclear demarcation (systemic counseling and systemic coaching) compared to systemic therapy. There is evidence of its effectiveness in five areas of application for this psychotherapeutic treatment, including affective disorders, addiction and abuse, schizophrenia or delusional disorders. The mixture of psychotherapy, counseling and coaching creates the impression that systemic counseling (and systemic coaching) are just as effective as systemic therapy. This contradicts the meaning of the Psychotherapists Act , which aims to protect laypeople seeking help from charlatanism . There is no scientifically founded evidence for the effectiveness or usefulness of systemic advice.

According to the third point of criticism, systemic counseling and coaching have the same characteristics as esotericism . This includes typical jargon made up of academic-looking word creations, a semantic alienation of everyday terms and community-building attributes. This jargon also serves as an immunization strategy against rational criticism. Examples of such word creations are: personality and relationship dynamics, reality logic, subliminal basic feelings, orientation data, unidentified arbitrariness, cultural competence, complexity not mastered, lack of creative power, reality-constructive dream work, systemic didactics, narration, reality-analytical perspective, architecture of dream reality, etc.

literature

  • Manuel Barthelmeß: Systemic counseling: an introduction to psychosocial professions . Beltz Verlag, Weinheim / Basel 1999, ISBN 3-7799-2002-6 .
  • Eckard König, Gerda Volmer: Systemic organizational consulting . Weinheim 1993.
  • Roswita Königswieser, among others: Introduction to systemic organizational consulting . Heidelberg 2005.
  • Gerhard Lenz, Gisela Osterhold: Systemic organizational and management consulting. Practical manual for consultants and executives . Gabler, 2003.
  • Klaus Mücke: Problems are solutions. Systemic counseling and psychotherapy - a pragmatic approach. Text and learning book. 3. Edition. 2003, ISBN 3-9806094-4-8 .
  • Arist von Schlippe, Jochen Schweitzer: Textbook of systemic therapy and advice I. 1st edition. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. Göttingen 2012, ISBN 978-3-525-40185-9 .
  • Nino Tomaschek: Perspectives on systemic development and consulting for organizations . Carl Auer Systems Verlag, Heidelberg 2007.
  • Jan V. Wirth, Heiko Kleve (ed.): Lexicon of systemic work. Carl-Auer-Verlag, Heidelberg 2019, ISBN 978-3-89670-827-4 . ( Online )

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ JP Thommen: Blind spots - a case for 2nd order management. In: Falko von Ameln, Josef Kramer, Heike Stark (eds.): Organizational advice observed. Hidden agendas and blind spots. Wiesbaden 2009, p. 113.
  2. ↑ Erika Spieß, Lutz von Rosenstiel: Organizational Psychology. Basic knowledge, concepts and fields of application. Munich 2010, p. 179.
  3. ^ Arist von Schlippe: Basics of systemic advice. In: Britta Zander, Michael Knorr (Hrsg.): Systemic practice of parenting and family counseling. Göttingen 2003, p. 30: "The boundaries are fluid, just like the problems of people seeking advice alternate between clinical and non-clinical areas."
  4. ↑ Britta Zander, Michael Knorr (ed.): Systemic practice of education and family counseling. Göttingen 2003, p. 9.
  5. ↑ Rainer Schwing, Andreas Fryszer: Systemic counseling and family therapy. Göttingen 2015, p. 156.
  6. ↑ Technical University of Kaiserslautern: The master's distance learning course "Systemic Consulting"
  7. ↑ Stefan Kühl: When the monkeys rule the zoo. The pitfalls of flat hierarchies. Frankfurt am Main / New York 1998, p. 11 ff.
  8. ↑ Stefan Kühl: When the monkeys rule the zoo. The pitfalls of flat hierarchies. Frankfurt am Main / New York 1998, p. 104.
  9. ↑ Stefan Kühl: When the monkeys rule the zoo. The pitfalls of flat hierarchies. Frankfurt am Main / New York 1998, p. 106.
  10. ↑ Stefan Kühl: The blind spots of systemic advice (PDF), 2009, p. 2.
  11. ↑ Stefan Kühl: When the monkeys rule the zoo. The pitfalls of flat hierarchies. Frankfurt am Main / New York 1998, p. 108: "The liquefied structures favor internal competition and are sometimes breeding ground for violent power struggles."
  12. ↑ Cf. Stefan Kühl: Centralization through decentralization. Paradoxical effects in leadership groups. (PDF). In: Cologne journal for sociology and social psychology. Vol. 53, Issue 3, 2001, p. 486.
  13. ↑ JP Thommen: Blind spots - a case for 2nd order management. In: Falko von Ameln, Josef Kramer, Heike Stark (eds.): Organizational advice observed. Hidden agendas and blind spots. Wiesbaden 2009, p. 112.
  14. ↑ Stefan Kühl: When the monkeys rule the zoo. The pitfalls of flat hierarchies. Frankfurt am Main / New York 1998, p. 106: "But precisely because of the diffuse character of power - the impossibility of defining and naming powerful people using formal characteristics - power is difficult or impossible to recognize and address."
  15. ^ DG Myers: Psychology. 10th edition. Worth Publishers, New York 2013, p. 24 f. and Popper, KR, Logic of Research, Tübingen 1974, pp. 73 and 77 ff.
  16. ↑ Oswald Neuberger: Oh, how good that nobody knows what one means systemically. Or the real story of Proteus? In: N. Tomaschek (Ed.): Perspectives of systemic development and advice from organizations . Heidelberg 2007.
  17. ^ W. Pelz: Systemic coaching and systemic advice: A critical analysis. scientific opinion. THM Business School, Giessen 2016, pp. 2 and 4 (online)
  18. ↑ Scientific Advisory Board on Psychotherapy: Expert opinion on the scientific recognition of systemic therapy. Retrieved July 12, 2016
  19. ↑ W. Pelz, ibid, pp. 2 and 9 f.
  20. ^ V. Lau: Black Book of Personnel Development. Steinbeis Edition, Stuttgart 2013, p. 30 and V. Lau: Oskure Managementesoterik. In: Personalmagazin. 09/2013 and interview in the "Karriere-Spiegel" with the same content Link to the online article
  21. ↑ Bernd Schmid: Systemic coaching and personality counseling. Bergisch Gladbach 2004.