POSITIONING IN THE THERAPIST'S INNER CONVERSATION: A DIALOGICAL MODEL BASED ON A GROUNDED THEORY ANALYSIS OF THERAPIST REFLECTIONS

Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, Jul 2008 by Rober, Peter, Elliott, Robert, Buysse, Ann, Loots, Gerrit, De Corte, Kim

In recent years, a dialogical perspective has emerged in the family therapy field in which the therapist's inner conversation is conceptualized as a dialogical self. In this study, we analyze the data of a grounded theory study of therapist reflections and we portray the therapist's self as a dynamic multiplicity of inner positions embodied as voices, having dialogical relationships in terms of questions and answers or agreement and disagreement. We propose a descriptive model of the therapist's inner conversation with four positions. In this model, each of the four positions represents a concern of the therapist: attending to the client's process, processing the client's story, focusing on the therapist's own experience, and managing the therapeutic process. Detailed analyses of vignettes of therapist reflections illustrate the model, and implications of this model for training and supervision are considered.

In recent years, a dialogical perspective has emerged in the family therapy field (e.g., Rober, 2002, 2004, 2005; Seikkula, 2002; Seikkula & Oison, 2003). In this view, inspired by Bakhtin's concept of the dialogical self as a polyphony of inner voices (Bakhtin, 1981, 1984; Morson & Emerson, 1990), some family therapists have described the therapist's self as an inner dialogue (e.g., Andersen, 1995; Anderson, 1997; Anderson & Goolishian, 1988; Rober, 1999, 2002, 2005). This dialogue has been called the therapist's inner conversation (Rober, 2002, 2005).

Describing the therapist's inner conversation as a polyphony of inner voices suggests that the therapist's self be considered as dialogical in nature (Hermans, 2004a, 2004b; Rober, 2005). Referring to William James's classical distinction between the 1 and the Me (James, 1890), this dialogical self can be portrayed as a multiplicity of I-positions (Hermans, 2004a, 2004b): it is "a dynamic multiplicity of (voiced) positions in the landscape of the mind, intertwined as this mind is with the minds of other people" (Hermans, 2004a, p. 176). Hermans (2004b) describes the self in spatial terms: "... self as being composed of a variety of spatial positions and as related to positions of other selves" (p. 18). According to Hermans, the I moves from position to position, as in a space, depending on the context: "The I fluctuates among different and even opposed positions. The voices function like interacting characters in a story. Once a character is set in motion in a story, the character takes on a life of its own and thus assumes a certain narrative necessity" (Hermans, 2004b, p. 19).

Hermans's use of the spatial metaphor "position" is important here. "Positioning" focuses on the dynamic aspects of encounters and replaces the traditional concept of "role," with its static, formal, and ritualistic connotations (Davies & Harr�, 1990): "With positioning, the focus is on the way in which the discursive practices constitute the speakers and hearers in certain ways and yet at the same time is a resource through which speakers and hearers negotiate new positions" (Davies & Harr�, 1990, p. 14). Taking the positioning concept out of the confines of the interpersonal domain, and extending it for use in the intrapersonal domain, Moghaddam (1999) uses the term "reflective positioning" (p. 74), referring to the process by which persons position themselves in unfolding personal stories told to oneself in inner conversation.

In earlier publications, based on our work as clinicians and trainers (Rober, 1999, 2005), we used the concept of the dialogical self to describe the therapist's inner conversation, and we distinguished therapist inner voices reflecting the position of the therapist's experiencing self from inner voices reflecting the position of his or her professional self:

1. The experiencing self refers to the therapist observations of the immediate situation as well as the memories, images, and fantasies that are activated by what the therapist observes. In a sense, the experiencing self implies a here-and-now not-knowing receptivity towards the stories of the client, as well as towards what is evoked by these stories in the therapist.

2. The professional self includes the therapist's hypothesizing (Rober, 2002) and his or her preparing of responses in the session. From an observer position towards the experiencing self, the therapist tries to make sense of his or her experiences by structuring observations and trying to understand what is going on in the family and in the conversation.

In this way, we have described the therapist's inner conversation in broad strokes as a dialogue between the position of the experiencing self and the position of the professional self (Rober, 2005). The dynamic interplay between inner voices parallels the therapist's actions in the outer conversation with the client, sometimes finding expression in questions or interventions, while at other times suggesting silence, thus remaining unspoken or unexpressed in the outer dialogue.

In this article, we extend our exploration of the therapist's self as an inner dialogue using some of the data from a grounded theory analysis (GTA) of therapist reflections. We chose this approach because it is widely practiced, flexible, and allows some mild organizing influence from existing theory. It is quite similar to methods that have been used successfully for similar kinds of data (e.g., by Rennie, 1990, 1992, 1994). The method is consistent with contemporary family therapy theory because, at least in some variants (e.g., Charmaz, 2006), it is broadly constructivist and hermeneutic while still recognizing the importance of careful analysis. We refer to our previous publication (Rober, Elliott, Buysse, Loots, & De Corte, 2008) for a more detailed discussion of the method and general findings of this study. In this publication, we will use the data of this study to develop a clearer perspective on the therapist's inner voices, and on the different positions from which they speak. Before we focus on the therapist's inner conversation, however, it may be necessary to outline the results of our grounded theory study of therapist reflections.