Conversation Analysis and Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy is a 'talking cure'- clients voice their troubles to therapists, who listen, prompt, question, interpret and generally try to engage in a positive and rehabilitating conversation with their clients. Using the sophisticated theoretical and methodological apparatus of Conversation Analysis - a radical approach to how language in interaction works - this book sheds light on the subtle and minutely organised sequences of speech in psychotherapeutic sessions. It examines how therapists deliver questions, cope with resistance, reinterpret experiences and how they can use conversation to achieve success. Conversation is a key component of people's everyday and professional lives and this book provides an unusually detailed insight into the complexity and power of talk in institutional settings. Featuring contributions from a collection of internationally renowned authors, Conversation Analysis and Psychotherapy will appeal to researchers and graduate students studying conversation analysis across the disciplines of psychology, sociology and linguistics.

Table of Contents:
Foreword: filling the gaps Willam B. Stiles; 1. Analysing psychotherapy in practice Anssi Peräkylä, Charles Antaki, Sanna Vehviläinen and Ivan Leudar; 2. Formulations in psychotherapy Charles Antaki; 3. Clients' responses to therapists' re-interpretations Fabrizio Bercelli, Federico Rossano and Maurizio Viaro; 4. Lexical substitution as a therapeutic resource John Rae; 5. Resisting optimistic questions in narrative and solution-focused therapies Clare MacMartin; 6. Conversation analysis and psychoanalysis: interpretation, affect and intersubjectivity Anssi Peräkylä; 7. Identifying and managing resistance in psychoanalytic interaction Sanna Vehviläinen; 8. Person reference as a device for constructing experiences as typical in group therapy Mia Halonen; 9. Conversation of emotions: on turning play into psychoanalytic psychotherapy Ivan Leudar, Wes Sharrock, Shirley Truckle, Thomas Colombino, Jacqueline Hayes and Kevin Booth; 10. A psychotherapist's view of conversation analysis Ulrich Streeck; 11. A review of conversational practices of psychotherapy Sanna Vehviläinen, Anssi Peräkylä, Charles Antaki and Ivan Leudar.

About the Author :
Anssi Perakyla is Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Helsinki. Chalres Antaki is Professor of Language and Social Psychology in the Department of Social Sciences at Loughborough University. Sanna Vehvilainen is a Post-Doctoral Researcher in the Centre for Research and Development of Higher Education at the University of Helsinki. Ivan Leudar is Professor of Analytical and Historical Psychology in the School of Psychological Sciences at the University of Manchester.

Review :
Review of the hardback: 'This volume highlights the considerable insights that emerge as a result of using conversation analysis to better understand psychotherapeutic interaction. Through an examination of the practices and procedures within the 'talking cure', the contributors help initiate a dialogue between students of interaction and psychotherapy researchers. Their findings indicate that conversation analysis can highlight key aspects of the psychotherapeutic process which have hitherto remained somewhat opaque.' Mike Forrester, University of Kent, Canterbury Review of the hardback: '… an outstanding edited collection. In a modest volume it brings together cutting edge conversation analytic studies of psychotherapist–client interaction. … rigorous empirical work … breadth of psychoanalytic theory and practice … interesting insights into conversation analysis from an outsider's perspective. … The book provides fascinating insights into the ways various forms of therapy are accomplished using the structures that organize social interaction. This book is a must have for students and academics with interests in conversation analysis and/or psychotherapy. It will likely become the … most important point of reference for those interested in the moment-by-moment unfolding of psychotherapeutic interaction.' Journal of Language and Social Psychology