Responsive Persistence Part I: Therapist Influence in Postmodern Practice

Abstract

Feminist and social constructionist developments in family therapy highlighted the importance of attending to therapist-client power relations and incorporating clients' understandings and preferences as a part of therapy. Significantly, less attention has been given to how postmodern therapists do use their power and influence. This is an important topic because it is therapists who have the major responsibility for guiding the interaction with clients and persisting in this so that change is facilitated. Therapist persistence in various forms and across dimensions of therapy process is examined to expand understanding of therapist influence in postmodern and collaborative work. An analysis of responsive persistence in a session with Karl Tomm as the therapist is presented to illustrate this conceptual framing.

From Knowing to Doing: Guidelines for Socioculturally Attuned Family Therapy

“…The final piece in third order change is making the imagined real. This may require that therapists be responsively persistent (Sutherland, Turner, & Dienhart, ), bringing clients back to their equitable goals and highlighting what they are doing to enact their vision (e.g., Dickerson, ). Therapists can help people build networks that support their ideals and devise strategies that resist dominant societal norms.…”

Navigating Critical Theory and Postmodernism: Social Justice and Therapist Power in Family Therapy

“…In many ways, activism through collaborating appears similar to Sutherland, Dienhart, and Turner's () and Sutherland, Turner, & Dienhart's () concept of responsive persistence. Responsive persistence is described as being persistently influential, for instance, maintaining a particular line of inquiry, while simultaneously being responsive to client knowledge and preference.…”

Jointly created authority: a conversation analysis of how power is managed by parents and systemic psychotherapists in children’s social care

“…This has relevance to Sutherland, Strong, and colleagues’ work, and what they have termed ‘responsive persistence’ (Sutherland et al, , b). They define persistence as ‘therapists staying the course they have chosen, despite facing conversational “obstacles” that could thwart their intention’ (Sutherland et al, , p. 471). They describe therapists as remaining responsive to clients’ feedback, and adjusting their own responses accordingly (thereby avoiding becoming abusive in their use of power), while simultaneously persisting with their desired direction to ensure they are being as useful as possible to the client, for example by using their knowledge.…”

“…They describe therapists as remaining responsive to clients’ feedback, and adjusting their own responses accordingly (thereby avoiding becoming abusive in their use of power), while simultaneously persisting with their desired direction to ensure they are being as useful as possible to the client, for example by using their knowledge. In the context of this responsiveness, they state that, rather than introducing ideas tentatively, once, ‘what may be required is a therapist sustained focus, or persistence, when introducing new ideas or exploring new possibilities with the client’ (Sutherland et al, , p. 472). Using CA in this study shows how this relational task unfolds, where the therapists are responsive to clients and able to reflexively adjust their responses, thereby creating the context for authority to be granted.…”