communication as identity construction

Communication as a process of identity construction

Postmodern perspective on psychotherapy

As the archaeology of our thought easily shows, man

is an invention of recent date. And one perhaps

nearing its end.

Michel FoucaultThe Order of Things, 1966

Modern Self Postmodern SelfHuman nature Constructed, Narrative

Object, Stable Process, Fluid

Individualistic, Isolated Relational, Performed

Singular, Centered Multi-storied, Dialogical

Intrapsychic Distributed

Bad news for psychotherapy?

The person is not the problem, the problem

is the problemMichael White & David Epston

Narrative therapy

Instead of problem solving, we focus on

solution-buildingSteve de Shazer & Insoo Kim Berg

Solution Focused Brief Therapy

Communication in ‘modern’ psychotherapy

• A tool for description of separate objective/subjective reality

• A tool for change of this reality – firstly, ‘inner structures’ of personality

Communication in ‘postmodern’ psychotherapy

• Communication IS intersubjective reality

• Communication as a process of identity construction

• Communication as action, performance

Performance is not merely a vehicle for being seen. Performance gives one self-definition, and that is a tantamount to

being what one claims to be.

Barbara Myerhoff

Communication in ‘postmodern’ psychotherapy

• Attention to language

We are able to reconstruct an experiential everyday metaphor into relational language

which in turn generates the relational space to consider the position that ‘this metaphor is in

relation to me, it is not intrinsically me’

Johnella Bird

Communication in ‘postmodern’ psychotherapy

• Attention to metaphors

Narrative as a metaphor for psychology (Jerome Bruner, Theodore Sarbin)

Communication in ‘postmodern’ psychotherapy

• Attention to politics

Communication in ‘postmodern’ psychotherapy

• Attentive to values (and the value itself)

How talk is to be treated not as a means to a therapeutic end but as a

central source of moral meaning itself

Ernesto Spinelli

Communication in ‘postmodern’ psychotherapy

• Who are the partners of communication?

Multiplicity of Self-positions: Dialogical Self (Hubert Hermans)

A therapist could help to construct a meaning bridge between client and therapist that enables the client’s internal voices to communicate with

each other and even engage in joint action

John Rowan

Communication in ‘postmodern’ psychotherapy

• Connection to social context: community work

Trying to enable people to experience relief from the effects of difficulties in their lives,

and enabling them to make broader contributions to others or to changing the

social conditions that contributed to the problems they have been facing.

David Denborough

Communication in ‘postmodern’ psychotherapy

Modern Postmodern

A tool for description and change of reality

Intersubjective reality, process of construction and performance, goal and

value

Language, models and metaphors are implicit, secondary

Attention to language, metaphors;deconstruction of taken-for-granted

Intention to be neutral, objective Intention to make the value and politicalpoint visible

Relationship between therapist and client (mostly as singular Self)

Relationships between multiple Self-positions and their communication to

other people

Isolated, confidential Connected to another people and contexts

Communication in psychotherapy

If Self is a process – what is a result of psychotherapy?- The need for practice and social change:

• Development of communication studies and practices

• Connecting this communication principles with different contexts (education, research, business etc)

• Attention to everyday communication process as a kind of practice

Elena.grebenyuk@gmail.com

www.elenagrebenyuk.wordpress.com

International Research Conference «Communication as a discipline and as

a field: Sharing experiences to construct a dialogue»

Moscow, Russia, July 9-11, 2015