Brief Strategic Interventions

Brief strategic approaches emerged from the work of the Mental Research Institute (MRI) group in Palo Alto, California, where Paul Watzlawick and colleagues explored how communication and "attempted solutions" often keep problems going. Their classic book Change: Principles of Problem Formation and Problem Resolution showed how sometimes, the more we try to solve a problem in the same way, the more stuck it becomes.

Giorgio Nardone later developed these ideas into a clinical model of Brief Strategic Therapy in Italy, creating precise, often counter-intuitive interventions for issues such as obsessive–compulsive problems and eating disorders. His work includes detailed case examples of how small, carefully planned changes in behaviour or interaction can unlock long-standing patterns.

In brief strategic interventions, we look closely at what you (and sometimes others) are already doing to try to solve the problem, then identify which of these efforts may be unintentionally maintaining it. The focus is on testing new, often small but targeted behaviours or perspectives that can shift the pattern.

This approach can be particularly useful for anxiety, phobias, obsessive patterns, relationship difficulties, and problems that have felt repetitive or "stuck" for a long time.

Interview: Giorgio Nardone with Flavio Cannistra

Nardone, G. (Website) – Strategic Logic and problem Solving

Nardone, G. & Watzlawick, P. – The clinical model Brief Strategic Therapy

Pietrabissa et al. (2016) – Protocol of strategic therapy for OCD

Proietti, L. et al. (2022) – Case Series: The efficacy of brief strategic therapy in treating obsessive-compulsive disorder