Valeria Ugazio

Freedom, goodness, power, and belonging: the semantics of phobic, obsessive-compulsive, eating, and mood disorders

Are the semantics of “freedom,” “goodness,” “power,” and “belonging” characteristic of the stories narrated in psychotherapy by individuals respectively with phobic, obsessive-compulsive, eating, and mood disorders? To verify this hypothesis, put forward by Ugazios model of semantic polarities, the Family Semantics Grid (FSG) was applied to the transcripts of 120 individual video-recorded systemic therapy sessions, the first two sessions carried out with 60 patients with phobic (12), obsessive-compulsive (12), eating (12), and mood (12) disorders and asymptomatic patients (12) with existential problems who made up the comparison group. The results confirm the hypothesis. All but one patient were correctly assigned to their diagnostic group only by drawing on their narrated semantics. The semantics alone therefore seem capable of defining the correct diagnostic group to which each patient belongs. We suggest considering the semantics as contextual and cultural diagnostic dimensions, expressions of the bonds but also of the resources of people, and above all useful for a diagnosis aimed at fostering processes of transformation and change.

A Couple in Love Entangled in Enigmatic Episodes: A Semantic Analysis

The article presents a semantic analysis inspired by the theory of family semantic polarities developed by Ugazio (, ) applying two versions of a coding system, the Family Semantic Grid (FSG), to a couple session with Tom Andersen as a consultant. One version (FSG II) detects the narrated semantic polarities (NSPs) emerging during the session from the transcript, whereas the other (FSG III) identifies the interactive semantic polarities (ISPs) from the video recording. Both the NSPs and the ISPs are classified according to four sets of meaning called the semantic of freedom, goodness, power, and belonging. The analysis puts forward some hypothesis about the pattern that entangles the couple and highlights Andersens contributions to overcome the problem troubling the couple.

The Semantics Grid of the Dyadic Therapeutic Relationship (SG-DTR)

The article introduces the Semantics Grid of the Dyadic Therapeutic Relationship (SG-DTR), a coding system for the analysis of the therapeutic relationship. It is inspired by the systemic and cognitivist therapeutic field of research on meaning and psychopathology and makes testable the concept of family semantic polarities, developed by Ugazio (1998, 2013). The SG-DTR identifies the interactive semantic polarities, that is, the semantic oppositions inferred by how the patient and therapist position themselves in the here and now of their mutual interaction. The grid captures the specificity of the psychotherapeutic relationship and identifies four main ways of relating and positionings between patient and therapist, expression of the four semantics ― freedom, goodness, power and belonging ― identified by Ugazio. The SG-DTR is a research and a clinical reliable tool. Knowing the meanings and the position of the therapist in his/her interaction with the patient is essential also to plan the therapy.

Family Semantic Polarities and Positionings: A Semantic Analysis

Inspired by Ugazio’s model of family semantic polarities (Storie permesse, storie proibite. Torino: Bollati Boringhieri, 1998; 2012; Semantic polarities and psychopathologies in the family: Permitted and forbidden stories. New York: Routledge, 2013) and by Harre et al.’s positioning theory (Harre & Van Langenhove, Positioning Theory: Moral Contexts of Intentional Action. Malden: Blackwell, 1999), this chapter explores Victoria and Alfonso’s conflicts and dilemmas through a semantic analysis.

Le psicoterapie sistemico-costruzioniste: specificità e recenti evoluzioni

Tua madre Margaret - ebbe a dire Birdwhistell alla figlia allora bambina di Gregory Bateson e Margaret Mead - e come una fontana che con le sue molteplici idee feconda un’intera valle, mentre tuo padre Gregory e come una gallina che cova sempre lo stesso grande uovo.

The Family Semantics Grid III. Interactive semantic polarities in couples and families

Inspired by Ugazio’s (1998, 2013) family semantic polarities model, the FSG III allows a semantic analysis of therapeutic sessions and other video-recorded conversations, such as films. It focuses on the lived story enacted by couples or other family members interacting with each other and with the therapist. This coding system identifies the interactive semantic polarities (ISPs) — that is, the semantic oppositions inferred by how the family members position themselves in the here and now — and classifies them according to the grids of the semantics of freedom, goodness, power, and belonging. The grids show the ISPs which mainly characterize the four semantics, and provide an operational definition, along with cues and nonverbal indicators, for each of these ISPs. The FSG III is a reliable research instrument which can be used by both clinical researchers and psychotherapists.