Conversation, Language and Possibilities. A Postmodern Approach to Therapy

Abstract

study. The use of a single hypothesis using suggestive interviewing techniques, repetition of questions, and the use of anatomically detailed dolls results in a high incidence of false memories in their studies. Repeated suggestions and stereotypes led to convincing fabrications of non occurring events.The study of domestic violence reports that women are injured more often than men and that those who commit violence are often those who were themselves beaten or who as children witnessed violence against their mothers. Wife beating is often accompanied by physical/sexual abuse of children. Substance abuse and depression are risk factors with alcohol abuse in 85 % of cases and cocaine in 30%. Women with masochistic tendencies encourage abuse and stay in battering relationships. Therapists need to network with social service, police, advocacy groups, and the legal system. Treatment includes crisis intervention, psychotherapy, couple/ family therapy, and substance-abuse treatment.Along with other victims (children and female spouses), elders are also abused. Unrealistic expectations of caregivers or the resentment of children toward these helpless elders contributes to the incidence. Evaluations (often reported by nursing homes) should include physical and neurological exams along with lab tests and x-rays as well as assessment of cognitive function using such tests as the Mini Mental State Exam. The authors call for expansion of in-home services along with reinforcement of public and professional awareness.This book is an excellent guide for professionals and the public. It should be consulted by mental health professionals, primary care physicians, schools, social agencies, and public health agencies.Evanston Conversation-is framed by the story of a family that had unsatisfactory family therapy and it could almost be viewed as an answer to the challenges and criticisms raised by this family. Actually, all along, Anderson as a seasoned educator, poses questions and then proceeds to answer them, appropriately reflecting the central importance of good questions in therapy, discussed later in the book. Several important questions, as well as answers, are presented through client stories. The author solves the difficult issues of confidentiality by using only cases that were already in the public domain, such as videotapes of consultations and live interviews during conferences and workshops. Questions are chosen to lead us 258

Co-constructing women’s stories about the sexual effects of child sexual abuse: A relational constructionist approach.

“…However, in relational constructionism, the focus is on differences (Anderson, 1997). In this study, we wanted to go beyond what unified the co-constructed narratives, so we proposed to explore with the women what other possibilities there were to tell their stories beyond the deficit and the harm story.…”

Critical Reflexivity and Intersectionality in Human Rights

“…Knowledge develops, in other words, always in the place between the researched and the researcher (Gemignani, 2011a) is itself located within other relations, contexts, and discourses. Similar to what happens in psychotherapy, these relationships are the sites in which realities and constructions can be creatively explored and alternative possibilities considered (Anderson, 1997;Kelly, 1955). In the process of learning or developing knowledge about HR, "we imprint the provisional world we experience in and on our bodies and make it part of the coming to be.…”

Couple relational ethics: From theory to lived practice

“…The clients are encouraged to view their disagreement with a mindset of multiple perspectives. Rather than engage in "dueling realities" (Anderson, 1997), they are invited to create space for multiple narratives of their experience. Each tries to listen for the legitimacy of their partner's view, granting, where possible, the benefit of the doubt.…”

“…For narrative therapists, the relational self is a core concept. “Social constructivism moves away from the idea of the individual constructing mind and challenges the notion of the autonomous individual” (Anderson, 1997, p. 43). Gergen (2009) suggests that the notion of a separate self is a relatively recent construction in the last few hundred years; “there is no isolated self or fully private experience.…”