ENGAGING WITH CHANGE - A PROCESS STUDY OF FAMILY-THERAPY

It is argued that current attempts to investigate the process of famil y therapy might benefit from the application of discursive and narrati ve analytic techniques. An example of such an analysis is given, takin g the work of an experienced family therapist with one family seeking help in dealing with the aftermath of a marital separation. The theme of 'how to deal with change as it materializes in the discussions duri ng therapy is selected for detailed examination in this paper. It is a rgued that there are two main discourses on this theme evident in the family's discussions, one being that the separation has occurred and i ts consequences should now he left to arise naturally; the other being that the effects of the separation need to be actively managed. It is suggested that this analytic procedure can dramatize the subtle chang es in family discourses during therapy; its limitations in terms of ge neralizability, and the difficulties of dealing with huge amounts of c omplex material, are also noted.