Clarifying for an Other: Six Conversational Practices to Foster Therapeutic Change from a Subjective Change Theory Perspective
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Date
2019
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Abstract
Drawing from the theory of subjective change in psychotherapy, this theory-building case study examines one successful therapeutic change process. The study characterizes conversational micro-practices featuring in segments of conversation theoretically linked to therapeutic change called change episodes (CE), containing three types of observable generic indicators of change: input, process, and output. For this study the 16 CE containing indicators of the second level (process) were examined. Six conversational practices involving six therapeutic assumptions are presented as a result of the study, which were consequential in discursively accomplishing preferred self-references (PSR) within CE related to process. Given that generating a "subjective theory" about the client's own change process emerges as a byproduct of conversationally clarifying PSR for and with the therapist (Le., intersubjective validation), this study contributes further specifying the theory of subjective change.
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Keywords
Therapeutic process, Theory of Subjective Change, Preferred Self-references, Theory-building case study, PSYCHOTHERAPY