Collaborative Language Systems

Johnny L. Burns

Governors State University

An interesting aspect of this week’s readings was the exposure given to a current trend in family systems therapy: the integration of postmodern therapy with traditional Buddhist teachings. This new approach to the therapeutic relationship involves meshing and integrating an understanding of the relationship of clients to life’s inevitable suffering, and postmodern therapeutic techniques such as “dis-solving” problematic behaviors through conversation. (Nichols, M., 2010, p.302) This narrative will explore how this synthesis can be achieved using collaborative family therapy techniques and traditional Buddhist teachings and philosophy, and will also compare and contrast traditional psychodynamic therapies with current trends in social work practice with children and families. My conception of the article “Suffering and the Relationship with the Problem in Postmodern Therapies: A Buddhist Re-Visioning” is multifaceted. The authors present several philosophies of life that are complicated and engrossing. For instance, the Buddhist premise that suffering in life is inevitable and unavoidable is both intriguing and controversial. This concept intrigues me because based upon my own experience I know that on occasion life is going to throw me some “curveballs.” The death of my mother last year and the twenty-seven years of alcoholism and drug addiction that I survived is proof that life has the power to surprise you at times. Some of the lessons that I was taught as a child didn’t adequately prepare me to deal with life’s inevitable suffering. In fact, many of the lessons that were given to me by various caregivers actually hindered my ability to “flow with” or let go of my most pressing problematic