Synopses & Reviews
Review
Add the quixotic touch of a rabbi to the adroit questions of a family therapist. Enough already? No. Add an Aesop-like creativity....These fables are fun and teasing, some probing, some coy, and some poignant. Wow, it's a goose! It's a read!' --Carl Whitaker, M.D.
Teaching by parable is an old and honorable tradition. Ed Friedman, beloved rabbi and noted family therapist, is a great modern master of the art. FRIEDMAN'S FABLES is a delight, of course. These stories are funny, but they are also profound, provocative, even shocking, as they present crucial truths of systemic thinking, vital lessons of family therapy and family life, and a slyly modern, hard-nosed re-evaluation of the wisdom of the ages. Friedman is using these stories to punctuate his lessons, lessons to therapists and to anyone else who expects to deal with people, lessons about human relationships, human suffering, and human integrity. One emerges with a great sense of the wisdom and humanity of Ed Friedman himself.' --Frank Pittman, M.D.
Ed Friedman, with humor, wisdom, and a devious mind, has created a series of fables that highlight the classic dilemmas and struggles of relationships. His characters haunt the reader long after the stories are over and inflict insight better than any formal interpretation ever could. These parables make great lessons and great reading for those caught in the web of trying to change another person or themselves.' --Carol Anderson, Ph.D.
I used a fable for my sermon, and you could have heard a pin drop by the end....I find the book thoroughly delightful and powerful.' --The Rev. Henry C. Galganowicz, Rector, Emmanuel Episcopal Church, Weston, Connecticut
Review
"The book had an unexpected effect. I found myself more creative in the therapy sessions that followed, almost as if I had been granted some internal form of permission to co-create a story alongside the stuck stories of so many of my clients.... The stories...had, in effect, stimulated my own story-telling ability."--AFTA Newsletter (American Family Therapy Academy) AFTA Newsletter
Synopsis
Edwin H. Friedman has woven 24 illustrative tales that offer fresh perspectives on familiar human foibles and reflect the author's humor, pathos, and understanding. Friedman takes on resistance and other "demons" to show that neither insight, nor encouragement, nor intimidation can in themselves motivate an unmotivated person to change. These tales playfully demonstrate that new ideas, new questions, and imagination, more than accepted wisdom, provide each of us with the keys to overcoming stubborn emotional barriers and facilitating real change both in ourselves and others. Thought-provoking discussion questions for each fable are included.
About the Author
Edwin H. Friedman, until his death in 1996, worked for more than 35 years in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area, and was in great demand as a consultant and public speaker throughout the country. A family therapist and ordained rabbi, Edwin H. Friedman was well known in the fields of mental health and pastoral education for his motivational style and his unique blend of systems thinking, humor, and common sense. He offered acclaimed workshops for mental health practitioners, clergy, business leaders, and others.
Table of Contents
Prologue
THE FAILURE OF SYNTAX
The Bridge
A Nervous Condition
The Friendly Forest
'Round in Circles
Projection
Raising Cain
THE DEMONS OF RESISTANCE
The Power of Belief
An American Holly
Soaring
Net Results
Metamorphosis
The Curse
Interlude
BONDS AND BINDS
Symbiosis
Attachment
Jean and Jane
The Magic Ring
The Lesson
Cinderella
REPTILIAN REGRESSIONS
Caught in Her Own Web
The Wallflower
Panic
Burnout
Narcissus
Tradition
Epilogue
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS