100 Language and emotion in psychotherapeutic interaction

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.