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Network therapy flourished in the U.S. during the 1970s, but has since dwindled there and begun to find new applications in Europe, especially in the Nordic countries. State social and healthcare systems, in developing deep vertical expertise, seems to build up a need for complementary horizontal expertise. The latest theories of sociology are used to analyze the need for networking, with the focus on language and dialogue as specific form. Two approaches developed in crisis service for psychotic patients (Open Dialogue) and in consultation for stuck cases in social care (Anticipation Dialogues), are dealt with. What becomes essential seems no longer to be the therapeutic method itself but the ability to see the polyphonic nature of clients' reality. In this respect, language--and dialogue as a specific form of being in language--as the focus of treatment, makes the practical forms of different approaches secondary.

AimThe aim of this article is to explore the challenges connected to the transformation and emergence of professional identity in transdisciplinary multi-agency network meetings and the use of Open Dialogue.IntroductionThe empirical findings have been taken from a clinical project in southern Norway concerning multi-agency network meetings with persons between 14 and 25 years of age. The project explores how these meetings are perceived by professionals working in various sectors.MethodologyData was collected through three interviews conducted with two focus groups, the first comprising health care professionals and the second professionals from the social and educational sectors. Content analysis was used to create categories through condensation and interpretation. The two main categories that emerged were ‘professional role’ and ‘teamwork’. These were analysed and compared according to the two first meeting in the two focus groups.Results and discussionThe results indicate different levels of motivation and understanding regarding role transformation processes. The realization of transdisciplinary collaboration is dependent upon the professionals' mutual reliance. The professionals' participation is affected by stereotypes and differences in their sense of belonging to a certain network, and thus their identity transformation seems to be strongly affected. To encourage the use of integrated solutions in mental health care, the professionals' preference for teamwork, the importance of familiarity with each other and knowledge of cultural barriers should be addressed.

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askyl€ a, Jyv€ askyl€ aThe paper analyses open dialogicity in psychotherapy and juxtaposes it with education in order to find common dialogical elements in all relational practices. The core is found in unconditional respect for otherness and generating dialogical space for voices to be heard. In traditional practice, professionals are tempted to plan interventions according to the goals of change informed by their methods and in team work and multi-professional practices they may even do this between themselves, away from the clients. Pre-set categories, plans and goals, however well founded they may seem, hinder listening. Following what others present here-and-now calls for tolerating uncertainty. Insight into developing dialogical family therapy opens through focusing on how therapists join in interacting with families instead of focusing on and interpreting the interactions of families. The conclusions provide a set of reflective questions for improving being in the present moment in psychotherapy practice.