Volume 26, Issue 2
DOI: 10.24205/03276716.2017.1015
Four Practices to Invite A Therapeutic Shift In Focus
Abstract
Recent research in psychotherapy has shown that shifting the focus of conversation into a selfreferential talk, rendering patients themselves as the focal point of the conversation, is a key aspect for the understanding of therapeutic change processes. The aim of this case study was to perform a micro-analysis of the ways in which this shift was achieved through therapeutic conversation. Results display four categories of conversational resources utilized during a successful gestalt therapy. Each one of these resources shows how a change in focus was jointly accomplished by the therapist- patient dyad. Implications for future research on change micro-processes are also discussed.
Keywords
psychotherapy, change processes, microanalysis, therapeutic conversation