Cultural reflexivity and the referral problem: A discourse analysis of three initial sessions of intercultural couple therapy

Abstract

Using a combination of macro-and micro-analytic approaches in discourse analysis, this article examines transcripts from three initial sessions of DVD-recorded conjoint couple therapy with an intercultural couple.We analyse the strategies of power employed by therapy participants to promote their preferred construction of the referral problem. Focusing on the intersections of gender, psychopathology and culture, we explore how wider sociocultural discourses play out in the microcontext of participants' discursive exchanges. We also consider how the therapist's interventions privilege and marginalise client discourses in both strategic and unintended ways. This article offers some clinical techniques to address the dilemmas and difficulties identified in our analysis. We conclude by underscoring the value of reviewing recordings and transcripts of therapy dialogues to enhance cultural reflexivity.

Family therapy and the ecology of parallel universes

“…In being mindful that in another world, roles could well be reversed, I am encouraged to adopt a more humble and humane positioning and to take a cultural and reflexive position by reflecting on one's position through the eyes of others. As Cadenhead and Fellin (2023) note: 'When working cross-culturally, it is perhaps especially important that therapists show empathy and understanding of a client's culture to avoid participating in othering processes' (p. 2).…”

Seeing, being and feeling seen and heard

“…The final paper in this issue focuses on cultural reflexivity and intercultural therapy. Cadenhead and Fellin (2023) use three sessions of actual therapeutic material to examine how wider sociocultural discourses play out in the micro-context of participants' discursive exchanges in couples therapy.…”