Overview

In the Paradox of Mental Health, the authors argue that our society is experiencing another pandemic—one of mental illness. This mental illness pandemic is maintained and escalated by conceptual ""viruses"" rooted in the normative, psychological medical model paradigm consistent with Western ideology. Therapeutic practice based on systems theory and social constructionism is offered as an antidote to alleviate the over-reliance on the medical model. The authors first ""do therapy"" on the concept of the normative, medical model; then explicate the concepts and application of systems theory and social constructionism; and finally, offer potential solutions to the mental illness pandemic.

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Reviews

This book beautifully elucidates and illuminates a vital, but too often unseen or misunderstood truth about the relationship between mind and body and the relationship between problems and attempted solutions: how we make sense of troubling experience affects how we attempt to change it, and both efforts--to understand and to intervene--instantly circle back and become inextricably woven into the experience itself. This truth pervades the world of psychotherapy, where models for healing or curing can inadvertently and tragically contribute to the creation and exacerbation of the very 'illnesses' they define and seek to ameliorate. Liberation from this paradoxical knot is no easy feat; it requires the kind of systemic wisdom offered in this collection of essays by the Becvars and their co-author, Lynne Reif. Their capacity for clear recursive thinking and warm-hearted caring never wavers. --Douglas Flemons, PhD, LMFT, professor emeritus, Nova Southeastern University; author of Completing Distinctions, Of One Mind, and The Heart and Mind of Hypnotherapy

The Paradox of Mental Health by Ray Becvar, Dorothy Becvar, and Lynne Reif is a clarion call to therapists to resist the surging drift into the world of individual mental health/ill-health by reclaiming our systemic family therapy roots. With each chapter the authors invite us to see our world as relational and complex, deserving of close attention and reflection. As they have done for many years in our field of family therapy, they welcome us home again. --Dan Wulff and Sally St. George, University of Calgary The Paradox of Mental Health: Toward Systemic and Social Constructionist Therapies by Raphael Becvar, the late Dorothy Becvar, and Lynne Reif is a revolutionary work that provides a desperately needed challenge to the assumptions that underpin our mental health system. The authors skillfully shine a light on the epistemological paradigm that frames the very idea that mental illness exists and that it is solely located within individuals. They expose many of our societally taken-for-granted assumptions about what is normal and what is pathological, and they even help us to see that the very concepts of normalcy and pathology are part of a particular paradigm, yet other paradigms are possible. And this is where the hope resides. Not only does this book deconstruct the foundations undergirding the assumptions that shape the modern mental health system, the authors use systems theory and social constructionism to present an alternative paradigm for understanding what it is to be a human, to struggle and suffer, and to heal and grow. --Tracey Laszloffy, PhD, LMFT, Center for Healing Connections This book beautifully elucidates and illuminates a vital, but too often unseen or misunderstood truth about the relationship between mind and body and the relationship between problems and attempted solutions: how we make sense of troubling experience affects how we attempt to change it, and both efforts--to understand and to intervene--instantly circle back and become inextricably woven into the experience itself. This truth pervades the world of psychotherapy, where models for healing or curing can inadvertently and tragically contribute to the creation and exacerbation of the very 'illnesses' they define and seek to ameliorate. Liberation from this paradoxical knot is no easy feat; it requires the kind of systemic wisdom offered in this collection of essays by the Becvars and their co-author, Lynne Reif. Their capacity for clear recursive thinking and warm-hearted caring never wavers. --Douglas Flemons, PhD, LMFT, professor emeritus, Nova Southeastern University; author of Completing Distinctions, Of One Mind, and The Heart and Mind of Hypnotherapy

I would likely use this text in an introductory or advanced counseling theories course; a couples, marriage, and family course; a systems-specific course; and/or a special topics course. This book beautifully elucidates and illuminates a vital, but too often unseen or misunderstood truth about the relationship between mind and body and the relationship between problems and attempted solutions: how we make sense of troubling experience affects how we attempt to change it, and both efforts-to understand and to intervene--instantly circle back and become inextricably woven into the experience itself. This truth pervades the world of psychotherapy, where models for healing or curing can inadvertently and tragically contribute to the creation and exacerbation of the very 'illnesses' they define and seek to ameliorate. Liberation from this paradoxical knot is no easy feat; it requires the kind of systemic wisdom offered in this collection of essays by the Becvars and their co-author, Lynne Reif. Their capacity for clear recursive thinking and warm-hearted caring never wavers. The Paradox of Mental Health by Ray Becvar, Dorothy Becvar, and Lynne Reif is a clarion call to therapists to resist the surging drift into the world of individual mental health/ill-health by reclaiming our systemic family therapy roots. With each chapter the authors invite us to see our world as relational and complex, deserving of close attention and reflection. As they have done for many years in our field of family therapy, they welcome us home again. The Paradox of Mental Health: Toward Systemic and Social Constructionist Therapies by Raphael Becvar, the late Dorothy Becvar, and Lynne Reif is a revolutionary work that provides a desperately needed challenge to the assumptions that underpin our mental health system. The authors skillfully shine a light on the epistemological paradigm that frames the very idea that mental illness exists and that it is solely located within individuals. They expose many of our societally taken-for-granted assumptions about what is normal and what is pathological, and they even help us to see that the very concepts of normalcy and pathology are part of a particular paradigm, yet other paradigms are possible. And this is where the hope resides. Not only does this book deconstruct the foundations undergirding the assumptions that shape the modern mental health system, the authors use systems theory and social constructionism to present an alternative paradigm for understanding what it is to be a human, to struggle and suffer, and to heal and grow.

Author Information

Raphael J. Becvar, PhD, retired endowed chair in marital and family therapy, was a licensed psychologist, licensed marriage and family therapist, and an approved supervisor with many years of experience in both academic and private practice contexts. He has authored and coauthored many books and articles in professional journals. His particular focus is on philosophical/metaperspectives on mental health and the practice of therapy and a widely recognized teacher of systems theory and family therapy. Dorothy Stroh Becvar, PhD, professor emerita in the School of Social Work at St. Louis University, was a licensed marital and family therapist and a licensed clinical social worker. She published extensively and presented workshops and taught courses, both nationally and internationally, on a wide variety of topics. She was also president/CEO of the Haelan Centers(R), a not-for-profit corporation dedicated to promoting growth and wholeness in body, mind, and spirit. Dorothy died on August 31, 2021. Lynne V. Reif, MA, licensed professional counselor, began her career working with at-risk youth in the foster care system. In 2000 she became a middle school counselor and continued in that role until 2023, when she shifted her focus from counseling in schools to writing and training in the areas of systems theory, family therapy, and parent education. Lynne has extensive background in working with children and families and was part of the leadership team that created and ran the Empowering Young Women conferences hosted by the University of Missouri St. Louis for twenty years. In 2012 she traveled to Uganda to coteach a first of its kind course in school counseling to educators there and to work with girls in the schools. This experience significantly expanded her cultural awareness and understanding of the significance of context in the lives of children and families.

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