Jay Haley
He treated the symptom as the target, not the psyche.
Co-founder of strategic family therapy, a directive, problem-focused approach in which the therapist designs a specific intervention for each problem.
techniques
Therapy is strategic when the therapist designs a particular approach for each problem.
Who they were
Jay Haley was an American psychotherapist and a founding figure of brief and strategic therapy. A member of Gregory Bateson’s communication research group and a collaborator with hypnotherapist Milton Erickson, he co-founded the Family Therapy Institute of Washington, DC. His books, including Problem-Solving Therapy and Uncommon Therapy, shaped the directive, goal-oriented tradition in family therapy.
Terms they cared about
Ideas worth knowing
Their techniques
How the work was done
Their big idea
Strategic Family Theory
Stuck family patterns shift through targeted tasks, reframing and directives.
The approach they founded
Strategic Family Therapy
Shifts stuck family patterns with targeted tasks, reframing, and well-aimed directives.
Questions in their spirit
What they’d ask you
Sit with one. Answer online, or in the app.
Carry the idea forward
Haley — What they’d ask you
Psipas asks you one small, honest question at a time — and builds the picture from your answers.