Strategic Therapy Was Inspired by Gregory Bateson and Milton Erickson In the 1950s, Gregory Bateson's research on communication in Palo Alto was the accidental discovery of strategic therapy . Bateson's work on double-blind communication influenced many therapists to start thinking about communication from a different perspective (Madanes, 1981) According to Bateson, families become trapped in dysfunctional patterns when they cling to solutions that don't work (Haley, & Richeport-Haley, 2003 ). Madanes states that “The approach suggests that the exchange of messages between people defines relationships, and these relationships are stabilized by homeostatic processes in the form of actions of family members within the family” (Madanes, 1981). The theory that emerged from this different view of therapy focused on changing the family system by causing family members to behave, or communicate, differently to each other (Madanes, 1981). Madanes suggests that the emerging theory did not focus on the past but instead focused on the present because the focus was on how people communicated in the present moment (Madanes, 1981). In the 1960s, family therapists used interview directives to modify communication pathways, such as asking people to talk together who usually did not (Madanes, 1981). According to Madanes, directives were also given outside of the interview, particularly as a result of the influence of Milton's Erickson Directive Therapy on communication therapists (Madanes, 1981). Bateson and Erickson's ideas became the foundation of strategic family therapy. In strategic family therapy, the therapist sets clear goals, which always include resolving the current problem. Madanes b...... middle of the document ...... the team analyzes the family's reaction and plans the next session (Niolon, Ph. D., 1999). Works Cited Haley, J. (2011). Jay Haley: The Strategic Therapist. Retrieved from http://www.jay-haley-on-therapy.com/html/strategic_therapy.htmlStrategic Family Therapy. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.allpsychologycareers.com/topics/strategic-family-therapy.htmlNiolon, Ph. D., Richard. (1999, December). Strategic family theory and therapy. Retrieved from http://www.psychpage.com/learning/library/counseling/strategic.htmlMadanes, Cloe. (1981). Strategic family therapy. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Inc. Haley, Jay and Richeport-Haley, Madeleine. (2003). The art of strategic therapy. New York: Brunner-Routledge. Nichols, M. P. (2011). Strategic family therapy. In A. Dodge (5th edition), The essentials of family therapy (pp. 97-121). Boston, Massachusetts: Pearson. (Nichols, 2011)