Donald deAvila Jackson
Encyclopedia
Don D. Jackson was an American
psychiatrist
best known for his pioneering work in family therapy
.
From 1947 to 1951 he studied under Harry Stack Sullivan
.
From 1953 to 1962 he worked with Gregory Bateson
, John Weakland
, Jay Haley
and William Fry
, developing thinking in the areas of family therapy
, brief therapy
, systems theory
and communication theory
. One of the results of this research was the development of the double bind
theory of schizophrenia
.
In 1958 he founded the Mental Research Institute
in Palo Alto, California, and was its first director.
"I miss Don. Don had a quickness and a lightness in touch that is I think very important in handling problems of human behavior. I think he might have thought that some of our antics this evening a little funny and to come up to this platform and lightened our procedures a little. It would have been nice. He was historically of course a very important person. His original paper on family homeostasis was certainly one of the first, perhaps the first major statement about the family as a system." Dr. Gregory Bateson
speaking at a memorial conference for Don Jackson
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
psychiatrist
Psychiatrist
A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. All psychiatrists are trained in diagnostic evaluation and in psychotherapy...
best known for his pioneering work in family therapy
Family therapy
Family therapy, also referred to as couple and family therapy, family systems therapy, and family counseling, is a branch of psychotherapy that works with families and couples in intimate relationships to nurture change and development. It tends to view change in terms of the systems of...
.
From 1947 to 1951 he studied under Harry Stack Sullivan
Harry Stack Sullivan
Harry Stack Sullivan was a U.S. psychiatrist whose work in psychoanalysis was based on direct and verifiable observation .-Life and works:Sullivan was a child of Irish immigrants and allegedly grew up in an...
.
From 1953 to 1962 he worked with Gregory Bateson
Gregory Bateson
Gregory Bateson was an English anthropologist, social scientist, linguist, visual anthropologist, semiotician and cyberneticist whose work intersected that of many other fields. He had a natural ability to recognize order and pattern in the universe...
, John Weakland
John Weakland
John H. Weakland was one of the founders of brief and family psychotherapy. At the time of his death, he was a Senior Research Fellow at the Mental Research Institute in Palo Alto, California, Co-Director of the famous Brief Therapy Center at MRI, and a Clinical Associate Professor Emeritus in...
, Jay Haley
Jay Haley
Jay Douglas Haley was one of the founding figures of brief and family therapy in general and of the strategic model of psychotherapy, and he was one of the more accomplished teachers, clinical supervisors, and authors in these disciplines.-Life and works:Conceived in a log cabin on his family's...
and William Fry
William Fry
William Fry may refer to:*William Henry Fry , American composer*William Fry , Australian politician of Higinbotham Province, Victoria...
, developing thinking in the areas of family therapy
Family therapy
Family therapy, also referred to as couple and family therapy, family systems therapy, and family counseling, is a branch of psychotherapy that works with families and couples in intimate relationships to nurture change and development. It tends to view change in terms of the systems of...
, brief therapy
Brief therapy
Brief psychotherapy or Brief therapy is an umbrella term for a variety of approaches to psychotherapy. It differs from other schools of therapy in that it emphasises a focus on a specific problem and direct intervention...
, systems theory
Systems theory
Systems theory is the transdisciplinary study of systems in general, with the goal of elucidating principles that can be applied to all types of systems at all nesting levels in all fields of research...
and communication theory
Communication theory
Communication theory is a field of information and mathematics that studies the technical process of information and the human process of human communication.- History :- Origins :...
. One of the results of this research was the development of the double bind
Double bind
A double bind is an emotionally distressing dilemma in communication in which an individual receives two or more conflicting messages, in which one message negates the other. This creates a situation in which a successful response to one message results in a failed response to the other , so that...
theory of schizophrenia
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by a disintegration of thought processes and of emotional responsiveness. It most commonly manifests itself as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking, and it is accompanied by significant social...
.
In 1958 he founded the Mental Research Institute
Mental Research Institute
The Palo Alto Mental Research Institute is one of the founding institutions of brief and family therapy. Founded by Don D. Jackson and colleagues in 1959, MRI has been one of the leading sources of ideas in the area of interactional/systemic studies, psychotherapy, and family...
in Palo Alto, California, and was its first director.
Quotes About Don Jackson
"How did Don Jackson influence the field of family therapy? How did Watts influence the steam engine? He made it. Others have refined the steam engine into a better, more efficient machine. I'd say that is what Don did for family therapy, he established the discipline. Others have gone on to refine it." - Richard Fisch, Founder & Director, Brief Therapy Center, Mental Research InstituteMental Research Institute
The Palo Alto Mental Research Institute is one of the founding institutions of brief and family therapy. Founded by Don D. Jackson and colleagues in 1959, MRI has been one of the leading sources of ideas in the area of interactional/systemic studies, psychotherapy, and family...
"I miss Don. Don had a quickness and a lightness in touch that is I think very important in handling problems of human behavior. I think he might have thought that some of our antics this evening a little funny and to come up to this platform and lightened our procedures a little. It would have been nice. He was historically of course a very important person. His original paper on family homeostasis was certainly one of the first, perhaps the first major statement about the family as a system." Dr. Gregory Bateson
Gregory Bateson
Gregory Bateson was an English anthropologist, social scientist, linguist, visual anthropologist, semiotician and cyberneticist whose work intersected that of many other fields. He had a natural ability to recognize order and pattern in the universe...
speaking at a memorial conference for Don Jackson
Publications
- Jackson, D. (Ed.). (1960). The etiology of schizophrenia. NY, Basic Books.
- Jackson, D. (1964). Myths of Madness: New Facts for Old Fallacies. NY, MacMillian Pub. Co.
- Haas, A. & Jackson, D. (1967). Bulls, Bears and Dr. Freud, Mountain View, CA: World Pub.
- Watzlawick, P., Beavin, J., Jackson, D. (1967). Pragmatics of Human Communication: A Study of Interactional Patterns, Pathologies & Paradoxes. NY: W.W. Norton. Also published in Bern, Switzerland. Hans Huber, Pub., 1969.
- Jackson, D. (Ed.). (1968a). Communication, Family and Marriage (Human communication, volume 1). Palo Alto, CA: Science & Behavior Books.
- Jackson, D. (Ed.). (1968b). Therapy, Communication and Change (Human communication, volume 2). Palo Alto, CA: Science & Behavior Books. Lederer, W. & Jackson, D. (1968). Mirages of Marriage. NY: W.W. Norton & Co.
External links
- http://www.mri.org/dondjackson/ Official Website
- http://www.mri.org