Bradford Keeney facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Bradford Keeney
Born	1951 Granite City, Illinois, US
Known for	family systems therapy, brief therapy, systems psychology, Creativity in Therapy, Resource Focused Therapy, Recursive Frame Analysis, Psychotherapy as a Transformative Art
Scientific career
Fields	cybernetics, psychology, brief therapy, radical constructivism, Systems theory, ecstatic healing traditions

Bradford Keeney, born in 1951, is a unique therapist, a specialist in cybernetics (the study of control and communication in living things and machines), and an expert on healing traditions from different cultures. He is also a performer and spiritual healer. Dr. Keeney has taught at many universities and started clinical programs. He created new ways of doing therapy, like improvisational therapy and resource-focused therapy. He also invented a research method called recursive frame analysis, which helps understand how conversations change people. He received a special award in 2008 for his lifelong achievements in family therapy.

People have called Keeney the "Marco Polo of psychology" because he traveled the world for over ten years. He lived with spiritual teachers and healers, learning their ancient wisdom. He then shared this knowledge with modern cultures. His journeys resulted in an eleven-book series called Profiles of Healing, which describes healing practices from around the world.

Early Life and Learning

Bradford Keeney was born in Granite City, Illinois, and grew up in Smithville, Missouri. When he was in high school, he won a science award from the American Medical Association. He also won first place at an international science fair for his project on how certain chemicals affect liver tissues. This award helped him get a scholarship to M.I.T., a famous science university.

At M.I.T., Keeney first learned about cybernetics and systems thinking. These ideas fascinated him. He later met Gregory Bateson, a leading expert in cybernetics, who became his friend and teacher. Keeney's doctoral work at Purdue University became his book Aesthetics of Change (1983). This book is considered very important in the field of cybernetics.

Bradford Keeney works with his wife, Hillary Keeney, who also has a PhD. They have written seven books together. He is also the father of a well-known DJ in Los Angeles, DJ Skee.

Exploring World Healing Traditions

Since 1995, Bradford Keeney has traveled the world to study "ecstatic healing traditions." These are ancient healing practices that often involve strong emotions or movements, sometimes called "shaking medicine." His travels led to the Profiles of Healing book series, which describes these practices across four continents. His own experiences were shared in the book American Shaman.

Today, Keeney combines what he learned from these traditional healers with modern therapy. He and his wife, Hillary Keeney, started The Keeney Institute for Healing. This institute teaches people about ecstatic healing and spirituality. They offer training for healers, therapists, and the public. Their work is inspired by traditions like the Kalahari Bushman (San) healing, Caribbean shakers, and Japanese energy medicine.

Many cultures recognize Keeney as an ecstatic spiritual teacher. The Kalahari Bushmen even accepted him as a n/om-kxao (healer). A researcher named Megan Biesele said that the Bushman healers believe Keeney's power and goals are the same as theirs. They confirmed his ability as a healer.

New Ideas in Therapy

Dr. Keeney has made important contributions to the field of psychotherapy (a type of talk therapy). He applied ideas from cybernetics to therapy. He worked at famous places like the Menninger Foundation and the University of Pennsylvania. During this time, he developed several new ideas.

In his early work, Keeney studied how famous therapists communicated. He then used his own therapy cases to show how therapy can be an art form. This art can help people make positive changes in their lives. Some of his key books include Aesthetics of Change (1983) and The Creative Therapist (2009). In 2010, Bradford and Hillary Keeney started an online doctoral program at the University of Louisiana, Monroe. This program focuses on cybernetics and systems thinking, which are core ideas in family therapy.

Resource Focused Therapy

Bradford Keeney and his colleague Wendel Ray created "Resource Focused Therapy." This therapy approach does not focus on a person's problems or difficulties. Instead, it focuses entirely on finding and using the natural strengths and "resources" of both the client and the therapist.

This way of thinking helps people see their situations differently. It's like an improvised play where the goal is to help the client discover and build on their abilities. This therapy aims to change a difficult situation into one where a person's strengths and resources are amplified.

Creativity in Therapy

Building on his "Resource Focused Therapy" ideas, Keeney developed the concept of "Creativity in Therapy." He sees the interaction between a therapist and a client as a creative, artistic performance. This performance helps people change and grow.

This idea comes from studying many therapy sessions that were filmed. The model uses ideas from improvisational performing arts and systems thinking. It helps therapists understand how their sessions can become more creative and effective for their clients.

See also

• Complex systems
• Constructivist epistemology
• Cybernetics
• Family therapy
• Second-order cybernetics
• Systems thinking
• Systems psychology