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100 Language and emotion in psychotherapeutic interaction

  • Stuart Ekberg , Olga Smoliak , Katie Ekberg and Amanda LeCouteur
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Volume 3
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Abstract

This chapter provides an overview of qualitative, language-based approaches to studying emotion in psychotherapeutic interaction. Particular attention is given to conversation analysis, which has made substantial contributions in this area. A hallmark of conversation analytic inquiry is fine-grained analysis of naturally occurring social interaction. Conversation analytic research investigating language and emotion in psychotherapy is underpinned by a broad conceptualisation of emotion as a socially situated stance. This approach has facilitated description of a range of practices for displaying emotion in psychotherapy. Clients can display emotional stances that are more or less explicit, for example, and therapists use a range of practices in attempts to engage clients in discussion about emotion. Conversation analytic research identifies two key challenges for therapists in this regard. First, therapists do not typically have direct access to clients’ emotional experience, and must therefore find ways to display knowledge about experiences that are not their own. Second, therapists need to maintain collaborative working relationships with clients, and this objective can conflict with attempts to discuss emotional experience in ways that do not align with clients’ perspectives. Therapists must find ways to manage these challenges in order to promote successful therapeutic outcomes. By highlighting the diverse ways in which emotional stances are displayed in psychotherapy, and the challenges associated with discussion of emotion, conversation analytic research provides key insights into ways language and emotion are central to the psychotherapeutic process.

Abstract

This chapter provides an overview of qualitative, language-based approaches to studying emotion in psychotherapeutic interaction. Particular attention is given to conversation analysis, which has made substantial contributions in this area. A hallmark of conversation analytic inquiry is fine-grained analysis of naturally occurring social interaction. Conversation analytic research investigating language and emotion in psychotherapy is underpinned by a broad conceptualisation of emotion as a socially situated stance. This approach has facilitated description of a range of practices for displaying emotion in psychotherapy. Clients can display emotional stances that are more or less explicit, for example, and therapists use a range of practices in attempts to engage clients in discussion about emotion. Conversation analytic research identifies two key challenges for therapists in this regard. First, therapists do not typically have direct access to clients’ emotional experience, and must therefore find ways to display knowledge about experiences that are not their own. Second, therapists need to maintain collaborative working relationships with clients, and this objective can conflict with attempts to discuss emotional experience in ways that do not align with clients’ perspectives. Therapists must find ways to manage these challenges in order to promote successful therapeutic outcomes. By highlighting the diverse ways in which emotional stances are displayed in psychotherapy, and the challenges associated with discussion of emotion, conversation analytic research provides key insights into ways language and emotion are central to the psychotherapeutic process.

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Contents v
  3. C Perspectives of Cultural Studies, Literary Studies, Art Theory and Theory of Media
  4. 65 A survey of approaches to culture, art and media and their relation to emotions 1363
  5. XIII Perspectives of cultural studies on language and emotion
  6. 66 Memory theories and research from the perspective of language and emotion 1381
  7. 67 Autobiographical memory and emotion 1399
  8. XIV Affect theories in arts and literary scholarship
  9. 68 Literature and emotion 1417
  10. 69 Emotional creativity 1437
  11. 70 Emotion and language in aesthetic experiences 1471
  12. 71 Narrative genre and emotion 1490
  13. 72 Stylistic design elements of literary texts 1511
  14. 73 Love and rhythm in poetry and music 1529
  15. 74 The role and symbolic meanings of emotion in literary language 1558
  16. XV Emotion, media, and public discourse
  17. 75 Media, entertainment, and emotion 1591
  18. 76 Discourse linguistics and emotions in media 1609
  19. 77 Media and public emotions 1632
  20. 78 Social media and emotion 1655
  21. 79 Emotion and the internet 1675
  22. 80 Mediatized emotions, digitalized communication and globalization 1690
  23. 81 Emotions, language, and advertising 1707
  24. D Interdisciplinary and Application-Related Perspectives
  25. 82 A survey of sociological theories and approaches to communication and emotion 1725
  26. XVI Society and emotion
  27. 83 Words, poems and cultural meanings 1745
  28. 84 The social construction of emotion and its linguistic and communicative dimensions 1759
  29. 85 The social and cultural constitution of emotion in language, discourse and the body 1775
  30. 86 Hurtful words and hate speech 1794
  31. 87 Emotions and globalization 1816
  32. XVII Language and emotion in economics and business communication
  33. 88 Language and emotion in business communication 1831
  34. 89 Management, organizational communication, and emotion 1853
  35. 90 Marketing and the commercialization of emotions 1872
  36. XVIII Politics, law, and emotions
  37. 91 Diplomatic negotiations 1885
  38. 92 Emotion, language, and legal processes 1906
  39. 93 Emotional eyewitnesses and forensic questioning 1923
  40. 94 Law and emotion with specific regard to police and forensic aspects 1944
  41. 95 Law, literature, and emotion 1962
  42. XIX Religion, emotional language, and communication
  43. 96 Foundations in theolinguistics 1979
  44. 97 Emotions, discourse, and religion 1993
  45. XX Emotion and clinical settings
  46. 98 Language and emotion in health communication 2011
  47. 99 Emotion, regulation and therapy 2030
  48. 100 Language and emotion in psychotherapeutic interaction 2044
  49. 101 Embodied language in experiential therapy 2062
  50. 102 Emotional language impairments in autism 2092
  51. 103 Language and emotion in clinical populations 2105
  52. XXI Affective computing in human-machine interaction
  53. 104 The use of language in affective computing for human-computer interaction 2127
  54. 105 Emotions in affective human-computer interaction 2159
  55. 106 Affective dialogue systems 2178
  56. XXII Methodical and practical consequences for education, native language education, foreign language education and second language education
  57. 107 Emotion in language education and pedagogy 2195
  58. 108 Emotion in second and foreign language education 2218
  59. 109 Civic emotion, loyalty and linguistic belonging 2237
  60. Index: Language and Emotion – An International Handbook (Vols 1–3) 2247
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