A Couple in Love Entangled in Enigmatic Episodes: A Semantic Analysis

Abstract

The article presents a semantic analysis inspired by the theory of family semantic polarities developed by Ugazio (, ) applying two versions of a coding system, the Family Semantic Grid (FSG), to a couple session with Tom Andersen as a consultant. One version (FSG II) detects the narrated semantic polarities (NSPs) emerging during the session from the transcript, whereas the other (FSG III) identifies the interactive semantic polarities (ISPs) from the video recording. Both the NSPs and the ISPs are classified according to four sets of meaning called the semantic of freedom, goodness, power, and belonging. The analysis puts forward some hypothesis about the pattern that entangles the couple and highlights Andersen's contributions to overcome the problem troubling the couple.

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

“…Following the conference symposium, we decided to further build on that original idea and proceed with the preparation of a special section, which Fred Piercy, as the editor of JMFT, decided to host in the Journal while generously trusting us with its running. Two of the papers (Smoliak, LeCouteur, & Quinn‐Nilas, ; Ugazio, ), which were originally presented at the EFTA symposium as well as Harlene Anderson's commentary (Anderson, ), were further developed and also included in this 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.…”

“…As concerns the choice of the presented research methodologies, we wanted to include a polyphony of perspectives considering epistemology and discourse theory. In that sense, although we have chosen to retain the term “discursive,” we have also included a type of semantic analysis (Ugazio, ) despite its different theoretical and epistemological perspective to the “classic” discursive methodologies, that is, conversation analysis and discourse analysis.…”

“…It thus offers unique insight on the dialectics of power, resistance, and therapeutic discourse. Finally, Ugazio () invites us into the world of intersubjectively constructed meanings, an area often bypassed in qualitative analysis as taken for granted. Her article offers insight on a specific proposal for semantic analysis based on the theory of family semantic polarities (Ugazio, ).…”

The legacy of Tom Andersen: The ethics of reflecting processes

“…Frequently, when a thought from inner dialog is spoken in words for the first time, the speaker is moved in new ways to hear it said and to have it witnessed. In this special section, Ugazio's () analysis of Andersen's session using the theory of family semantic polarity reveals how Andersen intervened very differently with Lisa who was hesitant to speak openly than with Michael, who was more eager to share his thoughts. Andersen commented minimally when Lisa spoke, recognizing she needed more space to share her inner dialog.…”