Lact - Palo Alto School Representative


Palo Alto School Representative

Center for training, intervention and research

Strategic systemic approach and hypnosis

 01 48 07 40 40  |  Email:

Research

Doors open on DECEMBER 10, 2024 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Research

LACT Open Days
LACT Open Days


ONLINE OPEN HOUSE

ONLINE OPEN HOUSE

December 10, 2024
from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

MEET US

Come and discover our training courses in strategic systemic approach, hypnosis and systemic coaching. You will meet the trainers and be able to talk with them!

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Milk & CTS

The Clinical Master of Giorgio Nardone LACT/CTS:
Training in Strategic Systemic Therapy by Giorgio Nardone (on the web)

29 days of clinical training on the Web in partnership with the Center for Strategic Therapy of Prof. Giorgio NARDONE. A unique intensive course to acquire techniques, strategies, therapeutic stratagems and specific protocols to treat different types of psychopathologies, some of which have become real best practices.

29 days of clinical training on the Web in partnership with the Center for Strategic Therapy of Prof. Giorgio NARDONE. A unique intensive course to acquire techniques, strategies, therapeutic stratagems and specific protocols to treat different types of psychopathologies, some of which have become real best practices.

THERAPEUTIC APPROACH

Strategic Brief Therapy, founded by Paul Watzlawick and Giorgio Nardone, is based on a systemic vision of the world and of the human being. Composed of innovative therapeutic techniques and about thirty specific treatment protocols developed for different psychopathologies, some of which have become real best practices, Strategic Brief Therapy aims to achieve a rapid and concretely verifiable resolution of various psychological disorders.

OBJECTIVES AND PEDAGOGY

Acquire an international diploma of Brief Strategic Therapist certified Lact and CTS attesting to a complete theoretical and practical training aimed at learning the various treatment protocols for the most common psychological disorders, according to the therapeutic approach developed by Giorgio Nardone and Paul Waltlawick, from the results of the Palo Alto School. The learning is centered on practice (simulations, role plays, exercises) and live case studies.

INTERNATIONAL TRAINERS

The master's courses are provided by international trainers from the medical world and scientific research, all graduates of the School of Specialization in Brief Strategic Therapy of the CTS of Arezzo of Prof. Giorgio Nardone. Each trainer is specialized and expert on the type of psychological disorder presented in the course not only from a theoretical point of view, but also and above all from a practical point of view. Excellence, rigor and experience are guaranteed.  

Qualiopi, Datadock, ODPC
OUR TRAINING COURSE

TRAINING COURSE 2025/2026

Clinical Master's degree in brief systemic strategic therapy
Systemician® Diploma - Relationship Clinician®

10 years LACT

Special 10-year Lact offer
Price for individuals: €6,950
Valid until 06/30/2025 instead of €7,800

Year 2

CLINICAL MASTER’S
ADVANCED LEVEL

150 hours of lessons
3 individual supervisions of 45 minutes
Approximately 150 hours of personal work
+ 147 hours of internship
Start of lessons: September 10, 2025
Price of training : €5,900
(special rate excluding agreement)

diploma
- relationship clinician®

TRAINING COURSE 2024/2025

Clinical Master's degree in brief systemic strategic therapy
Systemician® Diploma - Relationship Clinician®

10 years LACT

Special 10-year Lact offer
Price for individuals: €6,950
Valid until 12/31/2024 instead of €7,800

Year 2

CLINICAL MASTER’S
ADVANCED LEVEL

150 hours of lessons
3 individual supervisions of 45 minutes
Approximately 150 hours of personal work
+ 147 hours of internship
Start of lessons: 04/09/2024
Price of training : €5,900
(special rate excluding agreement)

diploma
- relationship clinician®

FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions
 

SCHOOL COURSES

  • online training can I integrate with the Bac level, without clinical practice?

Our training courses accessible with a Bac level, without clinical experience are as follows:

 

  • What online can I integrate with the Bac+3 level, with clinical practice?

Our training courses accessible with a Bac+3 level, with clinical experience are as follows:

Accessible training with a Bac+3 level, for professionals in the world of education:

Accessible training with a Bac+4/5 health professional with confirmed clinical experience.

For any registration, an interview may be proposed with Mr. Vitry Grégoire, Director of Lact, during which your professional background, your motivations and your project will be evaluated, in order to validate or not your application file. 

For access to DU, a VAPP is possible (Price: €100)

  • What are the differences between the DU Clinic of the relationship and strategic intervention and the LEVEL 1 foundations of the school?
    There is little difference between LEVEL 1 in systemic approach and DU

Several modules are common core except:
- The “Strategic Communication” module offered in LEVEL 1, replaced by the “Internship and tutoring” module, as well as the “practice improvement” module replaced by the “emotional regulation” course. You of course have the possibility to register for the modules if you wish. You will be asked to validate them if you then wish to join LEVEL 2 of the school.

- The “Hypnosis and Brief Therapy” and “Conversation and Hypnotic Induction” modules.
- The collective supervision module for which you have a specific supervisor.
- A practical internship of 147 hours and the defense of a dissertation is required to validate the DU

  • What are the prerequisites for joining the school and the DU?
    The "Relationship Clinic and Strategic Intervention" DU is open to professionals from the clinical or social world who wish to obtain University recognition.

    It is necessary to hold a BAC + 3 and clinical experience in helping relationships. With regard to the course of the school in strategic systemic approach:
    - Foundations level: Bac level.
    - Practical Level: You must have validated the foundations level.
    - Advanced level: You must have validated the foundation and practical levels.

  • Is it possible to assert systemic equivalences?
    Requests for equivalence are made on file with an interview.

  • What are the conditions for obtaining certification and validating the years?
    Foundations level:
    - have followed 75% of the live sessions and obtained the minimum mark of 7.5/10 for all the tests and 6/10 for the homework for the year.
    - have followed the 3 hours of individual supervision and validate the duty of follow-up.
    - present a case in collective supervision and validate the duty of supervision.

    Practical level:
    - have followed 75% of the live sessions and obtained the minimum mark of 7.5/10 for all the tests and 6/10 for the homework of the year.
    - justify a practice of 10 hours of intervention.
    - have validated the 3 hours of individual supervision and validate the duty of follow-up.
    - present a case in collective supervision and validate the duty of supervision.

    Level Perfection of the “Clinician of the relationship” training course (generalist or clinical course)
    - have followed 75% of the live sessions and obtained the minimum score of 7.5/10 for all the tests and 6/10 for the homework for the year.
    - justify a practice of 50 hours of intervention.
    - have validated the 3 hours of individual supervision and validate the duty of follow-up.
    - present a case in collective supervision and validate the duty of supervision.
    - carry out a 147-hour internship which will be the subject of a dissertation in which your appropriation of the systemic and strategic model and your implementation in the field will be assessed.

  • What recognition of the diploma issued at the end of the strategic systemic training course?
    At the end of the 3 years of the course of strategic systemic training, you will be awarded the diploma "Systemician - Clinician of the relationship".

    Certain courses may be subject to a University certificate.
  • Is this training suitable for coaches?
    Certain training courses (generalist, systemic coach or systemic management and coaching) perfectly concern coaches.

    It will allow you overall to acquire a systemic reading in your fields of intervention and more specifically to learn how to analyze the context of the change project, to recognize and manage the different types of resistance to change and to develop resilience at work, in particular with the business path.
  • Can we follow only the business modules?
    You can follow the company modules separately.

    However, this does not give you access to the Systemic Coach diploma. This diploma is issued to you after having obtained at least the certification of levels 1 and 2 and/or 3, and of the business modules to which you have access throughout the duration of your training.
  • I am currently HRD and I want to train in psychotherapy to better support my employees.
    Can I join the school? The training course is open to managers, HRDs, or for those who work in HR departments, social relations or training.
    You will learn to recognize the dynamics that lead to and fuel the individual or collective problems that you may encounter in your business life (burn-out, harassment, relationship problems, organizational change) and learn to quickly find effective and lasting solutions. Thanks to its methodology, you will also develop strategic skills to better intervene in the field of business or within an institution. You can also more specifically integrate our relationship management training which allows you to deploy your resources to improve your professional performance but also to better understand the relationship and psychological issues. All our training courses are provided by specialized international trainers from the world of business and university.
  • I cannot fully commit myself due to scheduling and/or budget constraints.
    What are my possibilities? It is entirely possible for you at first to follow only a few à la carte modules to meet your needs without committing to the full year.
    A 30% discount will be granted to you from an amount of 3,000 euros. You can also complete the Practical Year and the Relationship Clinician Development Year in 2 years.
  • If I want to test a few modules before committing to the year, is that possible?
    You can completely follow individual modules before registering for the year. In this case, the modules you have taken may be deducted from the annual price, for registration during the year.
  • What are we asked for as an internship?
    It is a practical and/or observation internship, which you can do for example in a center, a firm, an association, or an institution according to your profile and which allows you to deploy your learning.
    From the 2nd and 3rd year, you are asked to practice. If you already practice, it is possible to integrate your own practice into your internship but you will be asked, as far as possible, to devote time from your practice to the application of the model in order to produce work related to your training.

FUNDING

  • Can your training be financed through the CPF or through the employer?
    You have the option of requesting funding directly from your employer.
    To date, it is possible to obtain financing via your CPF for “start your business” training.

  • I am a job seeker, is it possible to request funding from France Travail?
    You have the possibility to apply for funding from France Travail, via the KAIROS platform, to do this, you can contact Leila by email:

  • Can we pay in several installments?
    You can pay in 3 installments or 10 installments directly on our site when you register , you also have the option of opting for financing your training course over 24, 36 or 48 months depending on the duration of your training, without commitment . (€50 or €150 administration fees depending on the choice of route)

 

Funding arrangementsPersons concerned
Personal financing in 1 installment, 3 installments + €50 application fees,
10, 24, 36, 48 months + €150 application fees
Anyone wishing to register for LACT training
Company-HR Department (via attached OPCO) company employee
CPF via Moncompteformation.gouv.fr Employee, job seeker, liberal profession, business manager
France Travail (via KAIROS) Job seeker
FIFPL (liberal prof. excluding doctors), FAF-PM and ANDPC (doctors), AGEFICE (entrepreneur), FAFCEA (craftsman, merchant) Liberal profession, business manager, auto entrepreneur
(in addition to or instead of the CPF)
The skills development plan Employee and civil servant
(large company and administration)
CAP EMPLOI / France Travail People with disabilities
CSP (Professional Security Contract) Employee in situation of economic redundancy

PRACTICAL PROGRESS OF OUR TRAINING

  • How is the remote practice going?
    All classes take place via the ZOOM platform which offers the possibility of creating different spaces/rooms to offer you group work (regardless of the size of the group). In this, it is very easy for us, logistically, to organize these practice times.
  • How to connect to the courses?
    To connect to the lessons, you must have a good internet connection and in the event of an unstable connection, you can do so by telephone, while following the videoconference.
  • Is it compulsory to be present for the lessons?
    The training is in web-face-to-face, so you are asked to be present at the lessons.
    However, we exceptionally accept a few absences (while recalling that one of the module validation criteria is an attendance time of 75%). Although this training takes place only online, we have interaction at heart, because practice is a central point in learning and these face-to-face sharing times allow us to set up an interactional and experiential dynamic. Experience is essential to learning.
  • Is all of the training taking place remotely?
    The entire training takes place remotely but you have the possibility of carrying out your hours of individual supervision in Paris in person. New for 2023: We are setting up the possibility of taking some face-to-face courses (limited number of places).
  • How do we access course content?
    You have access to the video recording, the slides, the bibliography, an exchange forum and all the knowledge tests for the validation of your modules by logging into your Moodle account. This account is accessible throughout the duration of your registration at the school.
  • Are all the courses in French?
    Some courses are in Italian or English simultaneously translated into French.

To find out the prices, select the training that interests you

MAPPING OF ALL LACT TRAINING COURSES


AND STRATEGIC APPROACH

Prerequisites
_

general

Bachelor's degree
with or without

clinical experience

clinical

Bac +3
with

clinical experience

Bac +5
with

clinical practice

education

Bachelor's degree
with or without

teaching experience

Bac +3
with

teaching experience

BUSINESS

Bachelor's degree
with or without

coaching experience

Year 1
Year 2
Year 3


AND STRATEGIC APPROACH

Year 1

general

Bachelor's degree
with or without

clinical experience

clinical

Bac +3
with

clinical experience

Bac +5
with

clinical practice

BUSINESS

Bachelor's degree
with or without

coaching experience

education

Bachelor's degree
with or without

teaching experience

Bac +3
with

teaching experience

Year 2
Year 3
Year 4

Accessibility

our training courses are accessible to people with disabilities.
In order to assess together whether our training can be adapted to your specific personal needs, or whether it is necessary to direct you towards other organizations, Véronique ENNES is available to assist you by email:

The first web training in strategic systemic approach with Giorgio Nardone for health and helping relationship professionals

Giorgio Nardone's LACT/CTS clinical master's is training in a systemic and strategic approach that is unique in France. Intended for psychiatrists, psychologists, psychotherapists, doctors or helping relationship professionals who can demonstrate solid practice. This training offers a specialization in brief therapy in the field of psychopathologies.

nardone photoThe Clinical Master of Giorgio Nardone is organized in collaboration by LACT and the Center for Strategic Therapy of Arezzo (CTS). This clinical master's degree is the first teaching course in France in the strategic systemic approach provided by CTS teachers.

A student of Paul Watzlawick, Giorgio Nardone is the founder of the Center for Systemic and Strategic Therapy in Arezzo. Taking up the theories of the school of Palo Alto, it is now internationally recognized. He has created dozens of innovative therapeutic techniques and formulated different specific treatment protocols for particular pathologies such as obsessive and compulsive phobic disorders or eating disorders.

Alongside the clinical setting, his activities and research concern communication and systemic and strategic problem solving applied to managerial contexts and to artistic and sports performance. Its theoretical and applied formulations are considered a true "school of thought" that inspires researchers and professionals around the world.  

 

The Clinical Masters of Giorgio Nardone organized in collaboration by LACT and the CTS of Arezzo brings together the teaching of the original intervention models patented by Giorgio Nardone:

  • Brief strategic therapy with treatment protocols and therapeutic strategies dedicated to the different types of psychopathology.
  • Strategic problem solving
  • Systemic and strategic coaching.

It is aimed at all practitioners at the BAC+4 level with a practice of the helping relationship. The Masters includes 170 hours of lessons, 3 individual supervisions of 45 minutes and approximately 175 hours of personal work.

Treated psychopathologies

Since 1985, Giorgio Nardone has carried out empirical and experimental research aimed at developing brief therapy models that could offer rapid and effective solutions to the most important forms of psychopathology.

Brief systemic and strategic therapy is currently the most effective and efficient psychotherapy on a wide range of psychopathologies, in particular for cases of panic attacks, obsessive-compulsive disorders, anorexia, binge eating, vomiting or even sexual dysfunctions.

In the Clinical Master of Giorgio Nardone LACT/CTS, several types of pathologies are addressed, including phobias , pathological doubt, panics , obsessive disorders, OCD, paranoia, borderline profiles , eating disorders, psychotic disorders and sexual , depressions and PTSD disorders .

A scientific approach to research-action applied to psychology

In order to develop these therapy models, Giorgio Nardone applied a research methodology often used in scientific and technological fields. However, it is little used in clinical psychology and psychiatry. Knowledge of the different psychopathologies does not require directing research towards a detached observation of clinical phenomena but towards the development of effective, efficient, reproducible, predictive and transmissible therapeutic techniques with a scientific approach. This methodology allows therapists and researchers to not only study the characteristics of disorders, but also to develop and refine the most appropriate therapeutic treatments. Giorgio Nardone has thus developed a large number of therapeutic models and therapeutic stratagems adapted to the different forms of psychological symptomatology. Some of them are adaptations of existing techniques, others are genuine therapeutic inventions developed empirically in the field. According to Giorgio Nardone, research and clinical activities coincide and are inseparable. Therapeutic interactions with patients with continuously evolving pathologies stimulate and create new and more advanced forms of therapy. At the same time, applied research allows experts to systematize and formalize ideas and transform them into real operational steps.

Communication and the language of change

padraic gibsonDrawing inspiration from the communication studies of sophists who saw communication as the foundation of the personal, interpersonal and social construction of reality in the Western world, renowned anthropologist Gregory Bateson conducted his research with an interdisciplinary group of scholars . This project, conducted during World War II, produced many important theories and applications, from cybernetics to systemic and strategic approaches to mental disorders, including research from the Palo Alto school.

Paul Watzlawick , in his work Pragmatics of human communication, published in 1967, studied the effects of communication on human actions. Her study of language deals specifically with how communication influences individuals in constructing, consciously or unconsciously, their reality. Watzlawick formulated the postulates of pragmatics and showed its application in many contexts. He initiated a new era in the study of language and its effects on the reality that individuals continually construct, suffer and/or manage. Watzlawick's work paved the way for different disciplines. In linguistics, John Austin (1962) published the book How to do things with words, a manual of pragmatics where different types of languages, such as the indicative and the performative, are identified. In psychology, studies have been conducted on verbal, non-verbal and paraverbal communication (Ekman, Friesen, 1969; Ekman, 1973; Patterson, 1982; Loriedo et al., 2004). In the fields of political and managerial sciences (Beer, 1968; Rappaport, 1972) and biology (Maturana, Varela, 1980), applications linked to therapeutic communication have multiplied, as well as in the fields of medicine and psychotherapy (Frank, 1961; Rogers, 1951; Nardone, Salvini, 2004; Milan, Milanais, 2015).

Focusing on the persuasive aspects of communication applied to changing human actions in The Language of Change, Watzlawick explores the therapeutic properties and influence of certain types of communication. Through many examples drawn from many fields of application, it provides a series of persuasive techniques that could alter people's perceptions and therefore their actions and opinions. It is important to remember that it was precisely in the Greek world and then in the Latin world that the highest expressions of rhetoric and oratory, destined to be true arts, were brought to light.

Since the mid-1980s, as a student and later associate of Paul Watzlawick, Giorgio Nardone developed the pragmatics of human communication and the language of change through research-intervention projects. These were first applied to the field of clinical psychology and psychotherapy, then to other fields such as problem solving and management science, the world of artistic and sports performance, the contexts legal and social sciences.

This work has led to the formulation of an advanced model of strategic communication that incorporates ancient forms of persuasion rhetoric and combines them with modern problem solving and with contributions drawn from application disciplines, which study and use language as instrument of change, such as hypnosis, psychotherapy and modern neuroscience. In the clinical setting, there are three fundamental formalizations: performative strategic communication (or hypnosis without trance), strategic dialogue and strategic problem solving . These three formalizations are taught in the Clinical Masters of Giorgio Nardone.

Performative strategic communication (or hypnosis without trance)

This formalization of communicative techniques is a way of "making words magic" and is based on the use of non-verbal, para-verbal and verbal communication:

  •  The use of the gaze not only as a perceptual-emotional contact but also as an instrument of influence. As St. Thomas said, "There is nothing in the intellect that has not been first in the senses."  

  • The use of the voice and its musical variations as an influential factor in creating emotional contact. Learn to use body posture and movement to nurture relationships and send powerful messages.  

  • Listen to others' points of view, accept them and even add new ones. 

  • Ask rather than tell, make the other person feel important, respected and reached, and also lead the conversation. 

  • Evoke feelings through language using images, aphorisms and metaphors. 

  • Building agreements on which to build bridges to new discoveries.

The strategic dialogue

This technique represents both the starting and finishing line of all the research, clinical practice and managerial advice carried out by Giorgio Nardone and Paul Watzlawick at the Center for Strategic Therapy in Arezzo after its foundation. It can be considered as a "finish line" because the strategic dialogue, an advanced technique for conducting a single "therapeutic" session and capable of inducing radical changes in the interlocutor, represents a synthesis of all that has been achieved so far in the field. This refined strategy, which aims to achieve maximum results with minimum effort, can be seen as a natural evolution from the previous formulation of specific treatment models for particular pathologies. These are therapeutic stratagems and a sequence of ad hoc maneuvers constructed specifically for different types of problems. This was the great success of such protocols in terms of effectiveness and efficiency in structuring the first therapeutic interview as a real intervention, rather than as a preliminary phase.

Thus, the questions became more and more strategic, the paraphrase became very reframing, the language became very evocative of sensations, and finally the prescriptions became the spontaneous evolution of a strategically constructed dialogue, rather than an injunction. forced. In this way, the approach of knowing the problems through their solutions, from a method of construction and pure research, has become an operational and strategic logic to be used during the first, and often the only, therapy or coaching session. The therapist, like a wise strategist, guides the interlocutor through skilful maneuvers, to be the main protagonist of the scene, so that the latter can convince himself of what he has come to feel and discover. The "magic" of this technique lies in its disruptive essentiality, in accordance with the Wisdoms of the Hellenic tradition, "not too much, just enough".

The strategic dialogue
The strategic dialogue

Strategic logic and problem solving

piantina newEver since humans have lived on Earth, they have had to develop logic to plan actions towards goals. Whether we are aware of it or not, we all use logics of thought and action whenever we want to achieve a certain goal.

The history of logic, as a discipline, emerges in the Hellenic world in the West and with the art of strategy in ancient China in the East. Until the advent of platonic philosophy, logic was a combination of art and science in the service of achieving various kinds of goals, such as winning a war or a tournament, successfully hunting prey, persuading someone or solve complex individual and social problems. Aristotle provided the first formulation of a rigorous model of logic, in which, however, everything that was not considered in this model, was excluded and labeled as a non-rigorous method. Consequently, art, creativity and, above all, non-linear dynamics (paradoxical, contradictory and circular dynamics) were excluded from rational logic when they were already recurrent in human dynamics. Since then, for more than two millennia, Western thought has been dominated by the "goddess of reason", that is, by rationalism of which Aristotelian logic was the main principle.

In fact, in academic philosophy, traditional and rational logics are still considered the essential point of reference for thought and action planning and non-linear and non-ordinary logics are again excluded from this context. Curiously, if we analyze the constant dynamic that each of us lives with ourselves, others and the world, we perceive that reason and rationality are not predominant, but that contradictions, paradoxes and beliefs dominate entirely, that is, anything that can be defined as logical ambivalence. Over the centuries, only a few authors have dealt with the logic of ambivalences, although these underlie the most frequent interactions between humans. For this reason, people who have worked on developing winning strategies have always exceeded the limits imposed by strict formal logic.

The strategic logic is an action planning model based on the objectives to be achieved and the problems to be solved, rather than on the respect of the reference theory. This type of logic has always considered the phenomena of logical ambivalence and used paradoxes, contradictions, prophecies and self-deception as real operational tools.

The implementation of this technique involves asking a person to imagine what the perfect scenario would be like once all current problems and difficulties have been completely overcome. In other words, a person is asked how the scenario would compare to the current situation once the problem has been fully resolved or the goal has been fully achieved. We have to convince our mind to imagine what the characteristics of the ideal situation would be once the strategic change has taken place. It may seem like a work of fantasy, but it is a way of observing the characteristics of the "ideal reality" to be achieved, which often allows us to see things that we were not able to understand. It's no coincidence that this was one of Leonardo da Vinci's favorite mental strategies. As for him, also in our case, this technique is used to free the pure imagination, to select the aspects that can be concretely achievable and then to start acting in this direction.

The systemic and strategic model of problem solving

Epistemologist Karl Popper (1972) indicated that the process of scientific research and the phases that lead to discoveries are as follows: 

  • You come across a problem;
  • You study all the attempts implemented as solutions; 
  • You are looking for alternative solutions;
  • You apply them; 
  • You measure the effects;
  • You adjust the strategy to make it effective. 

This process can be considered the basis of any problem solving process. It is therefore only a rigorous method to find solutions to problems according to the phases followed in the processes of scientific research. However, while science has the responsibility to explain the phenomena that are the object of study, problem solving is the "technology for finding solutions", that is to say, the methods which make it possible to achieve specific project objectives.

Strategic problem solving evolves from what has been reported above and adds some techniques that consider the use of nonlinear logic to the usual scientific process to facilitate the discovery of new insights that allow people to find solutions to what seems insoluble. The sequence described is as follows:  

  • Problem definition 
  • Agree on the goal 
  • Analysis and evaluation of attempted solutions 
  • The “how to make it worse” technique 
  • The “scenario beyond the problem” technique 
  • mountaineering technique 
  • Gradual adjustment towards the solution 

Three original techniques that have been added to the usual procedures of pure cognitive research: the “scenario on the problem” technique, the mountaineer technique and the “how to make it worse” technique.

The “scenario about the problem” technique

scacchiIt was not until the middle of the last century that some scholars began to draw attention to this form of logic which, despite being so influential in the lives of human beings, has been excluded from academic study. The Palo Alto school showed the importance of nonlinear dynamics: "circular causation" replaced "linear causation" and communicative paradoxes and self-fulfilling prophecies were identified as the building blocks of many important relationships between human beings and their reality.

Giorgio Nardone, as a direct student of Paul Watzlawick, embraced this tradition of studies and developed the models of non-ordinary logic through his work and his formulations by structuring a theoretical-applicative model of the logic of ambivalences which is divided into: self-deceptions, paradoxes, contradictions and beliefs. These are in turn divided into 13 different dynamics of nonlinear logic. All of this is embedded in a strategic logic model that allows people, when faced with a problem, to quickly construct an effective solution through the use of non-ordinary logical stratagems. These were already used in ancient Greece and China and, despite the advent of Aristotelian logic, they have been used continuously, in the history of mankind, by artists, scientists, rulers and managers. Giorgio Nardone has formalized an appropriate model of strategic logic, which respects the criteria and rigor of scientific research and, at the same time, facilitates inventiveness and application flexibility and the use of expedients that violate ordinary logic. Thanks to all this, what was originally an artistic approach, has become a real problem-solving technology, as the strategic solution models developed for different classes of problems have evolved and become not only more and more efficient and efficient because of their progressive refinement, but also reproducible, communicable and predictive in their effects. "The secret is that there are no secrets", a creative invention is not a stroke of genius, but the analysis of a problem that allows the therapist to see it from a non-ordinary angle.

mountaineering technique

This mental strategy clearly represents the application of an inverse logic compared to ordinary logic, since it involves the implementation of a sequence of acts which are apparently contrary to common sense. That is, once the objective to be achieved has been clarified, through the application of the previous technique, a person must imagine the sequence of steps upside down to the starting point, rather than starting from the initial point and building the sequence of steps to the end point, as this would seem more "reasonable" according to linear rationality. Its name comes from what expert climbers have been doing for thousands of years. When planning the most suitable route to reach a summit, climbers start from the summit and build the trajectory of their ascent backwards, step by step. This technique allows a person to break down the goal into a series of micro-goals until the smallest step is identified to begin implementing the change strategy. This counter-intuitive procedure allows us to circumvent our prejudices and fixed patterns, which prevent us from finding alternative solutions to those that have led us to failure. Never forget the words of Leonardo da Vinci: “there is nothing more likely to deceive us than our own judgment”.  

The “how to make it worse” technique

This original technique is an essential element of the systemic and strategic model of problem solving formalized by Giorgio Nardone and represents a kind of "trump card" against seemingly immutable situations. It consists of asking ourselves what actions we should take or avoid to voluntarily worsen the current situation, which we would instead like to improve. Likewise, we may ask ourselves what things we should voluntarily think and/or avoid thinking to deliberately complicate these problems, rather than lead them to their solution. After that, we make a careful list by writing down the most important things first, then the less important ones. This may seem like an absurd question, since subjects would like to improve their condition by solving their own problems. However, this is a form of strategic self-deception based on the logic of paradox: “if you want to straighten something, first try to bend it even more”. The reader should know that if I really try to think of all the ways to make my situation worse, the effect will be of two types. I will identify a range of counterproductive actions, which I will immediately begin to dislike. And that, of course, will cause me to avoid them.

The second effect, even more surprising, is that the spirit, pushed in this direction, will rebound, like a spring, towards its opposite. That is to say, I will begin to see the situation from other points of view and often I will be able to design solutions that I was not even able to envisage before. It is no coincidence that all the greatest scientists in history, from Archimedes to Edison, have used this mental strategy extensively to increase their ability to invent. As William James, the first great modern psychologist, wrote: “genius is nothing but the ability to perceive things from an unordinary point of view”

efficiency of brief systemic and strategic therapy
efficiency of brief systemic and strategic therapy

Efficiency of brief therapies and the strategic systemic model of Giorgio Nardone

These logic models, in addition to the formulation of effective and efficient validated treatment protocols of brief systemic and strategic therapy , have made it possible to intervene successfully in non-clinical contexts, in particular in the world of art, military and sports performance, both at individual and team level. This theoretical-applicative development made it possible to apply the model to the world of productive organizations with measured efficiency with interventions in private companies and public institutions to solve their complex problems, as well as to train their managers to become effective problem solvers.

References

Nardone, G. (1977).
Brief strategic solution-oriented therapy of phobic and obsessive disorders. New York: Jason Aronson. Nardone, G. (1999).
Psychosolutions: how to solve complex human problems quickly. Bordeaux: The Spirit of the Times. Nardone, G. (2002).
Fear, panic, phobias. Bordeaux: The Spirit of the Times. Nardone, G. (2008).
Riding your tiger or how to solve complicated problems with simple solutions. Threshold. Nardone, G. (2016).
psychological pitfalls. Brussels: Satas. Nardone, G. (2009).
The paradoxical diet. Brussels: Le Germ. Nardone, G. (2017).
The love and hate of food. Paris: Enrick B. Nardone, G. (2018).
The fear of deciding. Brussels: Satas. Nardone, G. (2019).
Emozioni: istruzioni per l'uso. Milano: Ponte alle Grazie. Nardone, G., & Balbi, E. (2012).
Sail the sea unbeknownst to the sky. Brussels: Satas. Nardone, G., & Bartoli, S. (2019).
Oltre se stessi: science and art of performance. Milano: Ponte alle Grazie. Nardone, G., & De Santis, G. (2017).
Anatomy of Doubt. Paris: Enrick B. Nardone, G., Giannotti, E., & Rocchi, R. (2018).
Family conflicts. Paris: Enrick B. Nardone, G., & Portelli, C. (2005).
Knowledge through change. The evolution of strategic brief therapy. Brussels: Satas. Nardone, G., & Portelli, C. (2016).
Obsessions, compulsions, manias. Brussels: Satas. Nardone, G., & Salvini, A. (2011).
Dizionario internazionale di psicoterapia. Milan: Garzanti Libri. Nardone, G., & Salvini, A. (2012).
Strategic dialogue: communicating by persuading. Brussels: Satas. Nardone, G., Verbitz, T., & Milanese, R. (2005).
Prison of food: Research and treatment of eating disorders. London: Karnac. Nardone, G., & Watzlawick, P. (1993).
The art of change. Paris: The spirit of the times. Nardone, G., & Watzlawick, P. (2005).
Brief strategic therapy: Philosophy, techniques, and research. New York: Jason Aronson. Watzlawick, P. (2009).
Insight may cause blindness and other essays (WA Ray & G. Nardone, Eds.). Phoenix, AZ: Zeig, Tucker, & Theisen. Wittezaele, J.-J., & Nardone, G. (2016). A logic of mental disorders. Systemic and strategic operative diagnosis. The threshold.

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International trainers

A team of more than
50 trainers in France
and abroad

Student satisfaction

of our students satisfied with
their training year at LACT *

International partnerships

International partnerships

Qualiopi certificate

The quality certification was issued under
the following category of actions: Training action

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