Techniques for Resonance
Techniques, which enable the environment to be drawn into the counselling process with the client have become an indispensable part of professional competence. The intervention spectrum has considerably broadened in the last fifteen years, particularly through systemic counselling. Resonance patterns can be recognised through a change of perspective with the help of circular questions (factually: “Do you feel so over-careful in all aspects of your life?”, social: “What would your colleague tell me about your behaviour in the company?”, temporal: “Was it once different!”), as well as through the viewpoint of possibilities (solutions, resources) and through clever usage of circular causalities (paradoxical prescriptions). A further example is the so-called ‘miracle question’: “What would you notice if, overnight, your problem had disappeared!”. “Then I would easily and without concerns observe all the people on the morning train!” Those who lose their problem, experience other resonances in the environment.
Through such techniques, new experiences with oneself and others are rapidly induced. These forms of intervention have become widely used and very popular on the counselling scene, because, due to their enormous potential, they quickly arrive at results and effects. From a metatheory point of view, though, the systemic perspective is one that must be supplemented with the remaining perspectives, which emerge from the guiding distinctions, if they do not wish to remain incomplete.