The negotiation of blame in family therapy with families affected by psychosis
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Amoss, Sarah (2014) The negotiation of blame in family therapy with families affected by psychosis. DSysPsych thesis, Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust. Full text available
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Abstract
Despite wide agreement in the systemic field that therapists should take a non-blaming stance, historically there has been little exploration of how this stance is achieved in practice. The difficulty in knowing how to put ‘non-blaming’ into practice is further heightened by competing models of intervention with families affected by psychosis. This study contributes to a body of literature that is concerned with how complex issues of morality are achieved dialogically by considering how family therapists manage the tension of intervening to promote change whilst maintaining a multi-partial, non-blaming stance. Two therapies carried out with families affected by psychosis are analysed using the methods of Conversation Analysis (CA) and Membership Categorization Analysis (MCA). In both therapies the sequences examined are drawn from the second session of therapy where explicit blaming events occur. By examining blaming events chronologically through the course of a session the study shows how the rules about the way blame is talked about are achieved interactionally. The analysis demonstrates that systemic theory’s emphasis on the importance of being non-blaming is grounded in a sophisticated understanding of the threat blame poses to co-operation and agreement. In both therapies, the delicacy and ambiguity with which blame is treated serves to enable the conversation to continue without withdrawal. However the cost of ambiguity is a possible misunderstanding of the intent of the speaker. The resulting misalignment, where it continues over several turns and sequences, leads to explicit blame becoming relevant as a solution to a redundant pattern of interaction. The findings indicate that the management of blame requires both the exploration of blame and its interruption when emotions and conflict run high. The former enables understanding and movement towards therapeutic goals while the latter is necessary to promote therapeutic and family alliances. An unintended consequence of the injunction to be non- blaming might be the premature closing down of topics, militating against problem resolution. The study concludes that CA and MCA offer a wealth of knowledge about mundane conversational practices that can be applied fruitfully to systemic therapy process research, teaching and supervision.
| Item Type: | Thesis (DSysPsych) |
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| Additional Information: | A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the University of East London in collaboration with the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust for the Professional Doctorate in Systemic Psychotherapy |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Professional Doctorate in Systemic Psychotherapy, Adult Mental Health, Conversation Analysis, CA, Membership Categorization Analysis, MCA |
| Subjects: | Disabilities & Disorders (mental & physical) > Psychoses Couple & Family Therapies > Systemic Family Therapy Psychological Therapies, Psychiatry, Counselling > Family Therapies |
| Department/People: | Children, Young Adult and Family Services |
| URI: | https://repository.tavistockandportman.ac.uk/id/eprint/1530 |
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