Interaction in Psychotherapy

The first of its kind, this novel book uses Conversation Analysis (CA) to show how relationships in psychotherapy are negotiated and repaired in interaction. With its multidisciplinary approach and broad scope, it is essential reading for researchers and students in CA, sociolinguistics, psychology and sociology, as well as practitioners.

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The therapist-client relationship in psychotherapy is considered one of the most important factors in promoting well-being and facilitating change in clients. This pioneering book provides a novel perspective on relationships by focusing on how they are accomplished through client-therapist interactions. Drawing on the key concept of affiliation from conversation analysis, it provides new insights into how therapists and clients forge affiliations in the course of therapy and how therapists successfully re-establish affiliation with their clients following disagreement or opposition - or fail to do so. It is the first book of its kind to offer a systematic overview of the range of interactional practices found in a particular psychotherapeutic approach (Emotion Focused Psychotherapy, EFT). By forming linkages between psychotherapy concepts and conversation analysis, this timely study is of importance not only to scholars of linguistics and interaction, but also to clinicians and clinical researchers.