Some reading

As François Balta wrote, the book written by Arnaud Bornens and Nicolas Mathieu is the Da Vinci Code of systemics. This work entitled “La logique de l’acouphène” - Short thesis on relational development" was written with three objectives:
- to make as many people as possible able to understand the systemic approach applied to the domain of support for people in situations of suffering, both in business and their private lives,
- articulate the theoretical foundations (philosophical, anthropological, sociological and psychological) necessary to understand the systemic approach,
- explain the techniques for solving relational problems that the strategic systemic approach of the Palo Alto school and its successors provide.

The book is aimed as much at relationship professionals (coaches, therapists, psychologists, marriage counselors, etc.) and people in charge in companies, as it is at the general public, in particular anyone with family and/or professional difficulties. This is why the style used combines a novel and a theoretical essay.

The novel is intended to be educational, combining efficiency and humour, lightness and seriousness. Everyone can personally identify with it and quickly grasp the key concepts of the systemic approach and problem-solving strategies.
The theoretical part is the outcome of the novel. In the form of an essay, its intent is to establish the systemic approach on a personalist anthropology and to weave links between the systemic approach applied to the psychological field and those applied to the sociological and psycho-sociological fields. It is a work of simplification and academic synthesis on the approach of the Palo Alto school and the systemic paradigm.

Summary of the novel

Antoine, commercial director in a toy company, sees his career advancement come to an end when he learns that he will not be able to take the position of General Manager of the company's Spanish entity, a position he had hoped to obtain to make his wife's wish of returning to live with her Catalan mother a reality. Antoine finds himself faced with a professional environment that seems increasingly hostile and his relationships with his wife and his mother-in-law that begin to be increasingly damaging to him and his family. With the discovery of a family secret and the meeting with a coach, supervised by Il Professore, an iconoclastic character, specialist in the systemic approach, he is able to get back on track.
Throughout this story, the reader discovers through the course of Il Professore and the supervision of the coach, the process through which Antoine is led to overcome his challenges and find new fulfillment in the world around him.
Il Professore’s course is revealed to us by Audrey, one of his students, in her book, published after an incredible journey, entitled Small thesis on relational development, a fascinating piece of work on the complexity of human relationships and strategies for resolving interpersonal problems.