Voices of the self in psychotherapy: A qualitative analysis

Abstract

Approaches that view the self as constituted by socio-cultural processes and as plural, consisting of a multiplicity of states, positions, functions, etc., have flourished in the last decades. This paper explores the multi-voiced nature of the self, drawing upon Lacan's theory of subjectivity and Bakhtin's concept of dialogism. Subjectivity is seen as constituted through language as expressed in the speech of the subject's important early others. The psychoanalytic concept of transference, understood as a semiotic process of enacting early interpersonal patterns in the subject's present relations, provides a link between the unfolding of subjectivity in the present and its historical continuity. The articulation of subjectivity is discussed through a micro-analysis of extracts from sessions of a long-term psychoanalytic psychotherapy. The analysis demonstrates the enactment of transferential dialogical positions at the beginning of the therapy and traces their recognition by the client through the gradual development of increasingly reflexive subject positions towards the end of therapy. It is argued that the aim of therapy should be the facilitation of a complex subjectivity, whereby the different subject positions can be fluently articulated within an overall reflexive frame.

Estratégias dialógicas de auto-organização da identidade: psicoterapia e reestruturação da gestão interna

“…O objetivo dessa estratégia consiste na introdução de mudanças nos padrões relacionais disfuncionais que possibilitem a promoção de encontros equilibrados entre as diversas posições. Esse processo facilita a negociação de relações assimétricas inflexíveis e a construção conjunta de interações mais adaptativas (Dimaggio & Stiles, 2007;Georgaca, 2001;Hermans, 2001). Desse modo, o restabelecimento, a renovação e a reorganização dos diálogos internos serão canalizados através de diálogos externos terapêuticos (Dimaggio, Salvatore, Azzara, & Catania, 2003; Lysaker ).…”

“…Na intervenção dialógica, vários autores referem a importância do desenvolvimento de uma meta-posição, ou Eu Observador, uma perspectiva a partir da qual a pessoa enuncia as ligações entre várias posições significativas de uma forma auto-reflexiva (Cooper, 2003;Dimaggio et al, 2003;Georgaca, 2001;Gonçalves & Ribeiro, 2012;Hermans, 2003Hermans, , 2004aHermans & Hermans-Jansen, 2004;Leiman & Stiles, 2001;Semerari et al, 2004). Essa posição alcança uma condição privilegiada para emitir avaliações mais informadas e isentas face às dinâmicas internas e para criar e moderar um espaço dialógico de comunicação e interação (Hermans, 2004a).…”

Discourse analysis and psychotherapy: A critical review

“…Foreman & Dallos, 1992;Hare-Mustin, 1994;Kogan & Brown, 1998;Weingarten, 1998) or analyse sessions using a different constructionist methodology (e.g. Georgaca, 2001Georgaca, , 2003Hodges, 2002;Hook, 2001) were excluded. The exclusive focus on discourse analytic studies of psychotherapy meant that we do not address the considerable body of conversation analytic studies of therapy sessions (e.g.…”

Displaying agency problems at the outset of psychotherapy

“…Reaching such an agentic stance calls for some distance to the self and critical self-observing, i.e. a reflexive position in relation to one`s thinking, acting, and different aspects of the self (Dimaggio, 2011;Georgaca, 2001;Rennie, 2010). Such a reflexive posture affords also the possibility to view certain impulses or desires as problematic, unwanted or inauthentic (Kögler, 2012).…”

“…In such construction, assuming a reflective perspective affords present experiences and actions to be presented as related to past, as well as future, events, experiences, or actions, thus producing continuity in personal life stories (Georgaca, 2001). This conception outlines agency as a temporal process where the narrated past is reconstructed within the present and carried on into alternative forthcoming possibilities (Kupferberg & Green, 2005;Ogden, 1986).…”