Paul Watzlawick's Theory of Human Communication

Watzlawick's Theory of Human Communication She argues that communication problems between people are due to the fact that we do not always have the same point of view as our interlocutors. Lack of compliance with certain communication rules causes failures in mutual understanding and pathological patterns of interaction.

Watzlawick's contributions are framed within the interactional approach to psychotherapy, which has its greatest exponent at the Mental Research Institute in Palo Alto. There, Watzlawick developed and systematized the work carried out by references such as Don Jackson and Gregory Bateson. His efforts were decisive in the emergence of the systemic therapies and relatives.

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Life and work of Paul Watzlawick

Paul Watzlawick (1921-2007) was an Austrian psychotherapist who He was part of the Palo Alto Interactional School. He and other theorists at the Mental Research Institute developed a theory of communication that was a fundamental contribution to the future of this area and of family therapy.

Watzlawick received a doctorate in philosophy and a degree in analytical psychology from the Carl Jung Institute in Zurich. He worked as a researcher at the University of El Salvador before joining the Mental Research Institute. He also worked as a professor of psychiatry at Stanford University.

Based on his research with families, Watzlawick described a systems theory focused on communication that later became known as the "interactional approach." This model conceives communication as an open system in which messages are exchanged through interaction.

Watzlawick's work was based on the double bind theory, developed by his colleagues Bateson, Jackson, Haley, and Weakland to explain schizophrenia. However, Watzlawick's influence in the field of communication was probably greater than that of the other members of the Palo Alto School.

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The Mental Research Institute of Palo Alto

The Mental Research Institute, commonly abbreviated as "MRI", was founded by Don Jackson in 1958 in the city of Palo Alto, California. In many cases, the MRI therapeutic tradition is referred to as the "Palo Alto Interactional School."

During the following decades the MRI became a very prestigious institution. A large number of influential authors in systemic, family and existential therapies collaborated there, such as Richard Fisch, John Weakland, Salvador Minuchin, Irvin Yalom, Cloé Madanes, R. D. Laing and Watzlawick himself.

The Palo Alto Interactional School promoted the development of brief, research-based therapies that focus on the interaction between people, especially at the family level. Over the years, the orientation of the MRI has evolved into approaches close to constructivism.

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Communication Theory Axioms

According to Watzlawick, Jackson, Beavin and Bavelas, proper communication depends on fulfilling a number of axioms. In the event that one of them fails, communication misunderstandings may occur.

1. It is impossible not to communicate

Any human behavior has a communicative function, even if this is tried to be avoided. We not only communicate through words, but also with our facial expressions, our gestures and even when we are silent, as well as when we use the disqualification techniques, among which the symptom strategy stands out.

Watzlawick calls "disqualification techniques" to the anomalous communication modes by which some people invalidate their own messages or those of others, for example leaving sentences blank. finish. The symptom strategy is to attribute the lack of communication to physical and mental states, such as drunkenness, sleepiness, or headache.

2. The content aspect and the relationship aspect

This theory states that human communication occurs at two levels: one of content and the other of relationship. The content aspect is what we transmit verbally, that is, the explicit part of the messages. This communicative level is subject to non-verbal communication, that is, to the relationship aspect.

The relational aspects of the messages modify the interpretation that the receiver makes of their content, as happens with the tone of irony. Metacommunication, which consists of giving information about one's verbal messages, depends on the relational level and is a necessary condition for communication between sender and receiver to have success.

3. The analog and digital mode

This basic principle of Watzlawick's theory is closely related to the previous one. In a synthetic way, this author states that communication has an analog and a digital modality; the first concept indicates a quantitative transmission of information, while on the digital level the message is qualitative and binary.

Thus, while in the content aspect of communication the sending of information is digital (either a message is transmitted or it is not transmitted), the relational aspect is given in an analog way; this implies that its interpretation is much less precise but potentially richer from a communicative point of view.

4. Punctuation gives meaning

Watzlawick believed that verbal and non-verbal communication have a structural component that is analogous to the punctuation of written language. By sequencing the content of the message we are able to interpret causal relationships between events, as well as to share information with the interlocutor successfully.

People often focus only on our point of view, ignoring that of those with whom we speak and understanding our own behavior as a reaction to that of the interlocutor. This leads to the erroneous belief that there is a single correct and linear interpretation of events, when in reality the interactions are circular.

5. Symmetric and complementary communication

The division between symmetric and complementary communication refers to the relationship that exists between two interlocutors. When both have an equivalent power in the exchange (p. and. they know the same information) we say that the communication between them is symmetrical.

On the contrary, complementary communication occurs when the interlocutors have a different informative power. There are several types of complementary exchanges: one of the interlocutors may try to neutralize the exchange, dominate the interaction, or facilitate the other person to do so.

Bibliographic references:

• Mahoney, Michael (2005) Constructive Psychotherapy: A Practical Guide. Paidos Ibérica Editions. Spain.
• Raskin, Jonathan D. (2002) Constructivism in Psychology: Personal Construct Psychology, Radical Constructivism, and Social Constructionism, American Communication Journal. Volume 5, Issue 3.