The Milan Approach today

Fam Process. 2024 Nov 5. doi: 10.1111/famp.13075. Online ahead of print.

Abstract

When asked what differentiates the Milan Approach now from the period when Luigi Boscolo and Gianfranco Cecchin were alive, the teachers at Via Leopardi remain humble. This article aims to explore the current identity of the Milan Approach. What is now the specificity of the Milan model? Do we have particularities that differentiate us from other clinical or therapeutic models? We still work according to the notion of the observing system, and we apply the three directives of the 1980s: hypothesizing, circularity, and curiosity. Is there a specific direction in which our approach is heading? Rather than attempting to take a picture of a status quo, this article seeks to represent the questions and doubts that organize a constant process in progress-as clinical work usually is. In this article, we wish to underline some aspects that are important to us and that we hold dear. We assert that the premises we have in common allow us to be flexible enough to keep in tune with current events and to address social issues that are of political relevance, in order to adapt to cultural changes.

Keywords: Milan Approach; circularity and curiosity; hypothesizing; observing system; second‐order cybernetics.