Dialogical sequence analysis and the zone of proximal development as conceptual enhancements to the assimilation model: The case of Jan revisited

The assimilation model has proposed a set of developmental stages through w hich a client's problematic experiences pass in successful psychotherapy. W e present 2 conceptual additions to the model. First, we examine the client 's problematic experiences using dialogical sequence analysis, an intensive method for studying the moment-to-moment process. Second, we extend the de velopmental stages to describe the intersubjective exchange between client and therapist by introducing Vygotsky's concept of the zone of proximal dev elopment. We illustrate the application of the new conceptual tools by pres enting 3 excerpts from the Ist session with Jan, a 42-year-old woman whose therapy has been studied previously. Our analysis suggested that, during th e 1st session, Jan's problems reached higher developmental stages in the jo int exchange with her therapist (Le., in the zone of proximal development) than in her internal assimilation.