From the viewpoint of Maturana's structure determinism, life is a purposeless drift in which we use language to assign meanings. Although saying something does not automatically make it so, how we talk about ourselves and others affects the patterning of our lives, reshaping both our problems and our opportunities. Moreover, the specialized linguistic operation we call psychotherapy induces changes by shifting social allegiances and generating new reflective contexts. In this essay, the structure deterministic perspective is used as the basis for a reconsideration of concepts such as cause and effect, personal control, thought and emotion, narratives, psychopathology, rationality, explanations, and hypocrisy. Implications for the theoretician and practitioner are highlighted.
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