The legacy of Tom Andersen: The ethics of reflecting processes

Abstract

Tom Andersen and his pioneering work with reflecting conservations has had a lasting influence on the field of family therapy and mental health more broadly. Most family therapists are familiar with his contributions related to reflecting teams; however, fewer are familiar with his conceptualization of reflecting processes, which offer practical ways to approach therapeutic conversations to address challenging problems. This article provides a brief history of Andersen's career and reviews four key elements of his approach, including: (a) his way of being in relationship, (b) appropriately unusual comments, (c) inner and outer dialogs, and (d) ethics of dialogical relating. Finally, this article introduces readers to the context of the video that will be analyzed in the articles that follow in this special section.

Clinical Practice and Clinical Supervision: Building a Firm Foundation

“…I have worked as a clinician in two publicly funded mental health programs, one with adults and one with children and adolescents, that emphasized diagnoses and "evidence-based" interventions (Conrad, 2007). At the same time, the CFTC emphasized postmodern approaches including solution-focused (De Jong & Berg, 2013), narrative (White & Epston, 1990), and collaborative language systems (Anderson & Goolishian, 1992) approaches, a relational approach to assessment and diagnosis (Tomm, 1991;Tomm et al, 2014), and the transparency of reflecting teams (Andersen, 1987;Chang, 2010;Gehart, 2018;Tomm 1984aTomm , 1984b.…”

Discursive Methodologies for Couple and Family Therapy Research: Editorial to Special Section

“…With this special section, we aimed to engage researchers and clinicians into a dialogue but also to exemplify four different modes of analysis for couple and family therapy data. The section consists of four articles which demonstrate four different modes of analysis, namely conversation analysis (Smoliak et al., ), discursive psychology type of discourse analysis (O'Reilly, Lester, & Kiyimba, ), poststructurally informed discourse analysis (Guilfoyle, ), and semantic analysis (Ugazio, ) as well as an introductory article (Gehart, ) which contextualizes the articles’ “data” by presenting a brief overview of Tom Andersen's contribution in the field. It also includes three invited commentaries (Anderson, ; Bertrando, ; Lebow, ) with the aim to foster dialogue concerning the section's input.…”

“…Like many others, we have also been inspired by his innovative work. In her introductory article of this special section, Diane Gehart (Gehart, ) reflects on hallmarks of Tom's legacy which have been a source of inspiration for her by drawing from her personal experience of relating with Tom and from her readings of his published work.…”

Toward Valuing Research: Reflections Inspired by Special Section Contributors

“…Tseliou and Borcsa () carefully situate the articles within the professional context of the EFTA conference and this special section, and state their aim: to share examples of research “which resonate with the systemic emphasis on the semantics and the pragmatics of therapy discourse.” Gehart () further situates the articles with her engaging and vivid portrayal of Tom Andersen, professionally and personally.…”

“…At the same time, he was a man of principle; if he strongly believed in something he spoke up, sometimes quite passionately. Gehart () engagingly describes Tom personally and professionally.…”