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Friedman's Fables

Edwin H. Friedman

Paperbacke-bookprint + e-book
Paperback
February 24, 2014
ISBN 9781462516704
Price: $29.00
246 Pages
Size: 5½" x 8¼"
Copyright Date: 1990
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e-book
February 19, 2013
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Price: $29.00
246 Pages
Copyright Date: 1990
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246 Pages
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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.

See also the downloadable audiobook, Friedman's Fables: Favorites Read by the Author, featuring 15 of the tales narrated in Dr. Friedman's inimitable style.

“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


“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

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


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.

Audience

Family therapists and counselors; clergy; students and general readers.

Course Use

Serves as a supplemental text in graduate-level courses such as Pastoral Counseling and Pastoral Leadership.
Previous editions published by Guilford:

First Edition, © 1990
ISBN: 9780898624557