Irreverence : a psychotherapeutic stance
Van Rooyen, Hanlie
The development of the concept of irreverence is examined in terms
of its historical, theoretical and metatheoretical contexts. The underlying
assumptions of the concepts of neutrality, curiosity, and irreverence are
distinguished and contextualised. Neutrality is discussed with reference to
Milan systemic therapy and first- and second-order cybernetics, while
curiosity is examined in the light of constructivist and narrative approaches
to psychotherapy. It is argued that these two concepts represent two sides
of a dualism, which is transcended through irreverence. Irreverence is
interpreted as a postmodern stance, involving the questioning and
relativising of therapists' basic assumptions. The pragmatic components of
an irreverent stance, namely self-reflexivity, orthogonality, flexibility and
accountability, are explored with reference to related concepts in the work
of other authors. Throughout the text metalogues are used in an attempt to
engage reader and author in a collaborative enterprise of acknowledging
and reevaluating their own basic assumptions.
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