Dialogueism Flashcards
What is dialogism?
Dialogism shares with other constructivist and social constructionist approaches to
therapy the idea that meaning is generated from relational activity. We share the
perspective of those postmodern thinkers (e.g., Lannamann, 1998; Pakman, 1995;
Shotter & Lannamann, 2002) who emphasize that this relational activity occurs among
‘‘embodied’’ persons, those who are both shaped and constrained by the particularities
of their physical bodies and contextual influences (e.g., class, race, gender, culture,
geography, history)
Response
From Bakhtin’s (1975) perspective, ‘‘for the word (and consequently for a human
being) there is nothing more terrible than a lack of response’’ (p. 127).
response in order to have meaning
team members strive to answer what is said. Answering does not mean giving an
explanation or interpretation, but rather, demonstrating in one’s response that one
has noticed what has been said, and when possible, opening a new point of view on
what has been said. This is not a forced interruption of every utterance to give a re-
sponse, but an adaptation of one’s answering words to the emerging natural rhythm of
the conversation.
The team members’ task is to open up a space for these new, not previously
spoken meanings (Anderson & Goolishian, 1988).
Team members avoid speaking too rapidly or moving toward conclusions. Toler-
ating a situation in which no ready-made responses or treatment plans are made
available enables network members to make use of their own natural psychological
resources. As multiple voices join in the sharing of the situation, new possibilities
emerge.
a multivoiced picture
By asking
for other network members’ comments on what has been said, team members help
create a multivoiced picture of the event.
In reflective dialogue, carefully directi
their own emotions resonating with expressions of emotion
Committed to responding as fully embodied persons, team members are acutely
aware of their own emotions resonating with expressions of emotion in the room.
‘‘normalizing discourse,’’
Responding to odd or frightening psychotic speech in the same manner as any other
comment offers a ‘‘normalizing discourse,’’ making distressing psychotic utterances
intelligible as understandable reactions to an extreme life situation in which the pa-
tient and her nearest are living
Express feelings of hopelessness
sometimes team members offer en-
hanced opportunity for network members to express feelings of hopelessness. This
contrasts with a solution-oriented approach in which the therapist tries to find more
positive words to construct experience
exploring intensely emotional themes in a calm, engaged manner,
exploring intensely emotional themes in a calm, engaged manner,
he way that the content is
talked about.
Although the content of the conversation is of primary importance for the network
members, the primary focus for the team members is the way that the content is
talked about.
unbearably painful
situations
It has been our experience that the heavier the experiences and emotions lived
through together in the meeting, the more favorable the outcome seems to be. Before
the meeting, network members may have been struggling with unbearably painful
situations and have had difficulty talking with each other about their problems. Thus,
they have estranged themselves from each other when they most need each other’s
support.
sharing and belonging together.
Painful emotions stimulate strong
feelings of sharing and belonging together. These feelings of solidarity in turn make it
possible to go more deeply into painful feelings, thus engendering stronger feelings of
solidarity, and so on.
shift out of monologic into dialogic
began to recognize an emotional process that, when it
emerged in a treatment meeting, signaled a shift out of monologic into dialogic dis-
course and predicted that the meeting would be helpful and productive. Participants’
language and bodily gestures would begin to express strong emotions that, in the
everyday language used in meetings, could best be described as an experience of love.
this was not romantic, but rather another kind of loving feeling found in familiesFabsorbing mutual feelings of affection, empathy, concern, nurturance, safety, security, and deep emotional connection. Once the feelings became widely shared throughout the meeting, the experience of relational healing became palpable.
zone of proximal development
Vygotsky’s idea of the ‘‘zone of proximal development’’ provides a frame of refer-
ence for understanding how the actions of team members support the flow of emotion
in treatment meetings. The zone of proximal development is the metaphorical space
between the student who strives to learn new skills just beyond the limits of her
current ability, and the teacher who, already having mastered those skills, draws the
student forth, offering the teacher’s skills as a scaffolding to support development of
the student’s skills. The process is, however, not a one-sided act directed from the
more skillful person to the student, but a mutual cooperation in which the one in
charge must constantly adapt his or her activity to the learner (Bruner, 1985)
They do not share the intensity of the network members’ bodily involvement
in the feelings in the room. Their experiences with other crises in other networks have
shown them that the current crisis can be survived.
