Dialogical Origin of Meaning Making and Co-construction of Voices in Psychotherapy

Abstract

Intersubjectivity has priority over subjectivity because meaning is discussed and constructed in a two-way process that happens in a conversation. According to this, the research aims to show the terms of change for meaning production in psychotherapy with clients. Two cases (a child and an adult) were selected with apparent symptoms of anxiety and fear with the case study method and available sampling. They were treated by the technical integrative method. Conversations were coded by process-focused conversation analysis. Analyzing results by process-focused conversation analysis showed that in both cases, to happen changes in psychotherapy, besides terms of conversation, a particular type of psychotherapy response is essential (Khayyami's cycle), and client change is not explained by the merely particular response of the therapist; but, the therapist can, by the method used in the research, acquire the meaning hidden behind client's verbal response and symptoms on the dialogue process and show Lacani's transcendental signified and signified chain.