Virpi-Liisa Kykyri

Inviting Participation in Organizational Change Through Ownership Talk

This article takes the practitioner’s view toward and focuses on participation through talk within multiparty settings of one process consulting case. From the perspective of discursive psychology, the authors ask what happens in interaction when the consultant is working to put into practice the ideal of active client participation in organizational change. They argue that participation is established when psychological ownership of the process is displayed through talk in interaction. This happens when what the authors call “ownership talk” is used: A person is sharing his or her views, interests, and experiences related to the change process.The authors provide detailed observations and interpretations about how local rules of displaying ownership talk are provided by the consultant and how they are negotiated, tested, and followed by the participants. The value of the ownership talk concept in developing theory and practices within the fields of organizational change, organizational development, and process consulting work is discussed.

Sympathetic nervous system synchrony in couple therapy

The aim of this study was to test whether there is statistically significant sympathetic nervous system (SNS) synchrony between participants in couple therapy. To our knowledge, this is the first study to measure psychophysiological synchrony during therapy in a multiactor setting. The study focuses on electrodermal activity (EDA) in the second couple therapy session from 10 different cases (20 clients, 10 therapists working in pairs). The EDA concordance index was used as a measure of SNS synchrony between dyads, and synchrony was found in 85% of all the dyads. Surprisingly, co-therapists exhibited the highest levels of synchrony, whereas couples exhibited the lowest synchrony. The client-therapist synchrony was lower than that of the co-therapists, but higher than that of the couples. A Video Abstract is available next to the online version of this article on the JMFT web site.

Inviting interactional change through “tricky situations” in consulting

Purpose – Consulting work aims to bring about changes in organizational performance. In OD‐consulting practices, changes are to be sought through conversational settings created for these purposes. The purpose of this paper is to take a discursive approach to change work and ask how interactional change is constructed and managed during multi‐party consulting conversations.Design/methodology/approach – A case episode from an authentic consultation event is presented. By combining ideas from discursive psychology and conversational analysis, it is shown that a consulting conversation may be socially sensitive and face‐threatening for all concerned.Findings – The paper shows how such a “tricky situation” is not to be avoided but to be actively constructed for facilitating change. The use of different discursive strategies for managing criticism and blame is demonstrated.Practical implications – Tricky situations involving criticism and blame can be used in facilitating interactional change. The consultants...

Calling in a witness: Negotiating and factualizing preferred outcomes in management consultation

Abstract This article examines how preferred outcomes are negotiated and factualized during organization development consulting conversations. Paradoxically, organizational performance in itself cannot actually be improved during the consultation conversations. Whatever changes there are to be made, they are to be sought within the conversational situation of consultation. Even the outcomes have to be negotiated and made visible for all participants. Using discursive psychology and conversational analysis, we show how interactional and discursive strategies can be used to achieve this in one consultation process. The consultant constructed what we call the position of a witness for some participants who were invited to talk about change. Such a position was constructed by defining the participant as someone who has knowledge about the issue under consideration, and as someone who can be seen as an independent observer whose words are not restricted in any way in advance. This position of a witness and the role of an audience were discursively utilized in factualizing preferred outcomes of the consulting process as convincing. To our knowledge, this kind of factualizing of preferred outcomes in consultation has not been studied earlier.

Soft Prosody and Embodied Attunement in Therapeutic Interaction: A Multimethod Case Study of a Moment of Change

This study focused on a moment of weeping in one psychotherapy case. The overall aim was to explore the role of “soft prosody” in psychotherapy interaction—that is, the participants’ use of pauses, a lower volume, slower rhythms, and softer intonation than in the surrounding speech. A mixed-method, micro-analytic perspective was applied to investigate (a) social interaction, including its verbal and nonverbal elements; (2) the participants’ bodily responses, including autonomic nervous system (ANS) measurements; and (3) the participants’ thoughts and feelings during the therapy session, as reported in subsequent individual interviews. Soft prosody was observed to be an important conversational tool. It was used in conveying affiliation and offering therapeutic formulations, and it appeared to contribute both to emotional attunement between the participants and to the therapeutic change that occurred during the interaction under study. Two differing bodily synchronization tendencies in the arousal levels were observed among the participants: (a) a complementary tendency—that is, when the clients arousal increased, the therapists decreased (occurring during the active therapeutic processing); and (b) a tendency to concurrent decreased arousal in all of the participants.

The process and content of advice giving in support of reflective practice in management consulting

Although consulting has been defined as an ‘advice‐giving activity’ there has not been much research on advice practices in management consulting. In particular, there is a lack of evidence on how advice might assist in supporting another central issue in management work, namely reflective practice. This article approaches consulting from a discursive perspective and views reflective practice at the level of language use. The authors use data on naturally occurring talk during a single Organization Development (OD) consulting process and discursive methodology to examine these conversations, and offer empirical evidence on how advising can support reflective managerial practice. Examples of conversational practices that provided reflections on the managerial position, day‐to‐day responses and actions are given. They illustrate varieties of both the content and the process of advice which were utilized when building the reflective stance. The authors discuss the tension between advising and promoting reflective practice in OD consulting settings.

Sensitivity in topic development and meaning making in a process consultation contract meeting

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the discursive practices used when the agenda for a consultation process was negotiated in a contract meeting. The paper illustrates the role of sensitivity in meaning making practices, that is, how displays of sensitivity were intertwined with topic development.Design/methodology/approach – The paper offers an in‐depth analysis of naturally occurring conversation in a meeting between a consultant and two client managers. The audio‐recorded data is analyzed by utilizing methodology introduced and developed in the traditions of Ethnomethodology and Conversation Analysis (CA).Findings – The authors show how both the consultant and the clients displayed markers of sensitivity when introducing various meaning potentials relevant to the topics under discussion, and how they eventually ‘negotiated’ meanings through formulations and reformulations of the topics.Practical implications – The findings suggest that indirect and complex discursive practices were funct...

Entrevistas de Recuerdo Estimulado: ¿Cómo la entrevista de investigación puede contribuir a nuevas prácticas terapéuticas? [Stimulated Recall Interviews: How can the research interview contribute to new therapeutic practices?]

El objetivo de este estudio es reconstruir y comprender, a través de un proceso de colaboración entre investigador y clínico, la experiencia subjetiva del terapeuta en un caso único, durante episodios significativos de la terapia. Este estudio de caso se basa en una combinación de dos diseños metodológicos que son relevantes para la investigación orientada por la práctica. Por un lado, se articula la investigación y la práctica a través de la colaboración entre un clínico y un investigador, en un interés mutuo por reconstruir los puntos de vista del clínico durante el proceso de momento a momento de la terapia, que acontece en un entorno naturalista. Por otro lado, incorpora el paradigma de eventos significativos como un enfoque para la selección de segmentos relevantes de la sesión (de cambio, estancamiento, ruptura y resolución) que contextualizan la experiencia clínica a ser explorada. Una paciente de 70 años de edad, con depresión mayor, y su terapeuta mujer, de 32 años de edad accedieron a participar de este estudio. Las 21 sesiones de la terapia fueron videograbadas y transcritas. Codificadores expertos observaron las sesiones de terapia e identificaron episodios de cambio y estancamiento (de acuerdo al modelo de Indicadores de Cambio Genéricos), así como rupturas de la alianza y estrategias de resolución (basado en el Sistema de Codificación de Rupturas y Resoluciones), dando por resultado un total de 43 eventos significativos. Después de la terminación de la terapia, la terapeuta participó en seis sesiones de entrevista retrospectiva con el investigador, en las que observó todos los episodios como aparecieron cronológicamente a lo largo de la terapia, recordando su experiencia durante esos acontecimientos. A estas entrevistas se aplicó un análisis basado en la Teoría Fundamentada. Los resultados muestran que la experiencia de la terapeuta durante los episodios significativos puede ser referida a sí misma, a la paciente, o a la relación; al mismo tiempo, cada uno de estos focos puede incluir las dimensiones cognitiva, afectiva, conductual, de expectativas de rol, disposición hacia la terapia, y las intervenciones. Específicamente, los episodios de cambio se caracterizan por contenidos referidos sobre todo a la paciente, mientras que los episodios de estancamiento se refieren principalmente a la terapeuta y a la relación terapéutica. Los episodios de ruptura fueron caracterizados por contenidos asociados al estado afectivo de la terapeuta y a la paciente, así como a la evaluación que la terapeuta hace del caso durante la revisión de los episodios. Episodios de estrategias de resolución se caracterizaron por una referencia a contenidos asociados a la relación, específicamente el vínculo, y a las expectativas de la terapeuta acerca de sí misma. En general nuestro estudio muestra que lo que la terapeuta experimenta tiene una influencia en la selección y aplicación de estrategias y técnicas utilizadas durante el proceso psicoterapéutico. Este estudio destaca la compatibilidad de los modelos de investigación para evaluar el cambio, con la experiencia clínica del terapeuta. En este sentido, nuestros hallazgos podrían ayudar a cerrar la brecha histórica entre investigación y práctica clínica. Además, nuestros resultados muestran la posibilidad de utilizar este tipo de investigación orientada por la práctica para el seguimiento y supervisión de procesos psicoterapéuticos y como herramienta en la formación de terapeutas.espanolEl objetivo de este estudio es reconstruir y comprender, a traves de un proceso de colaboracion entre investigador y clinico, la experiencia subjetiva del terapeuta en un caso unico, durante episodios significativos de la terapia. Este estudio de caso se basa en una combinacion de dos disenos metodologicos que son relevantes para la investigacion orientada por la practica. Por un lado, se articula la investigacion y la practica a traves de la colaboracion entre un clinico y un investigador, en un interes mutuo por reconstruir los puntos de vista del clinico durante el proceso de momento a momento de la terapia, que acontece en un entorno naturalista. Por otro lado, incorpora el paradigma de eventos significativos como un enfoque para la seleccion de segmentos relevantes de la sesion (de cambio, estancamiento, ruptura y resolucion) que contextualizan la experiencia clinica a ser explorada. Una paciente de 70 anos de edad, con depresion mayor, y su terapeuta mujer, de 32 anos de edad accedieron a participar de este estudio. Las 21 sesiones de la terapia fueron videograbadas y transcritas. Codificadores expertos observaron las sesiones de terapia e identificaron episodios de cambio y estancamiento (de acuerdo al modelo de Indicadores de Cambio Genericos), asi como rupturas de la alianza y estrategias de resolucion (basado en el Sistema de Codificacion de Rupturas y Resoluciones), dando por resultado un total de 43 eventos significativos. Despues de la terminacion de la terapia, la terapeuta participo en seis sesiones de entrevista retrospectiva con el investigador, en las que observo todos los episodios como aparecieron cronologicamente a lo largo de la terapia, recordando su experiencia durante esos acontecimientos. A estas entrevistas se aplico un analisis basado en la Teoria Fundamentada. Los resultados muestran que la experiencia de la terapeuta durante los episodios significativos puede ser referida a si misma, a la paciente, o a la relacion; al mismo tiempo, cada uno de estos focos puede incluir las dimensiones cognitiva, afectiva, conductual, de expectativas de rol, disposicion hacia la terapia, y las intervenciones. Especificamente, los episodios de cambio se caracterizan por contenidos referidos sobre todo a la paciente, mientras que los episodios de estancamiento se refieren principalmente a la terapeuta y a la relacion terapeutica. Los episodios de ruptura fueron caracterizados por contenidos asociados al estado afectivo de la terapeuta y a la paciente, asi como a la evaluacion que la terapeuta hace del caso durante la revision de los episodios. Episodios de estrategias de resolucion se caracterizaron por una referencia a contenidos asociados a la relacion, especificamente el vinculo, y a las expectativas de la terapeuta acerca de si misma. En general nuestro estudio muestra que lo que la terapeuta experimenta tiene una influencia en la seleccion y aplicacion de estrategias y tecnicas utilizadas durante el proceso psicoterapeutico. Este estudio destaca la compatibilidad de los modelos de investigacion para evaluar el cambio, con la experiencia clinica del terapeuta. En este sentido, nuestros hallazgos podrian ayudar a cerrar la brecha historica entre investigacion y practica clinica. Ademas, nuestros resultados muestran la posibilidad de utilizar este tipo de investigacion orientada por la practica para el seguimiento y supervision de procesos psicoterapeuticos y como herramienta en la formacion de terapeutas. EnglishThe aim of this study is to reconstruct and understand, through a collaborative process between researcher and clinician, the therapist’s subjective experience of a single case during significant episodes of therapy. This case study draws on a combination of two methodological approaches that we believe are relevant for practice oriented research. On the one hand, it links research and practice through the collaboration between a clinician and a researcher, in a mutual interest to reconstruct the clinician’s points of view during the moment-to-moment process of therapy, which takes place in a naturalistic setting. On the other hand, it incorporates the events paradigm as an approach for the selection of relevant session events (change, stuck, rupture and resolution) that contextualize the clinician´s experience to be explored. A 70 year old female patient with major depression and her 32 year old female therapist agreed to participate in this study. All of the 21 sessions of the therapy were videotaped and transcribed. Expert raters observed therapy sessions and identified change and stuck episodes (according to the Generic Change Indicators model of change), as well as ruptures of the alliance and resolution strategies (based on the Rupture Resolution Rating System), resulting in a total of 43 significant events. After therapy termination, the therapist participated in six sessions of a retrospective interview with the researcher, in which she observed all of the therapy episodes as they appeared chronologically along the therapy, recalling her experience during those events. A Grounded Theory based qualitative analysis was applied to the interviews. Results show that the therapist’s report about her experience during significant episodes of therapy can be described with reference to herself, the patient and the relationship; at the same time, each can be described along the cognitive, affective, behavioral, roles expectations, disposition towards therapy and interventions dimensions. Specifically, change episodes are characterized by contents referred primarily to the patient, while stuck episodes refer primarily to the therapist and the relationship. Rupture episodes were characterized by contents associated to the affective state of the therapist and that of the patient, as well as to the therapist´s assessment of the therapy during the observation of the episodes. Resolution strategy episodes were characterized by a reference to contents associated to the relationship, specifically the bond, and the therapist’s expectations about herself. In general our study shows that what the therapist experiences has an influence on the selection and implementation of strategies and techniques used during the psychotherapeutic process. This study highlights the compatibility of research models used to assess change, with the therapist’s clinical experience. In this sense, our findings could help to bridge the historical gap between clinical practice and research. Furthermore, our results illustrate the possibility of using this type of practice oriented research for monitoring and supervising psychotherapeutic processes and as tool for therapist training.

The Relational Mind in Couple Therapy: A Bateson-Inspired View of Human Life as an Embodied Stream

Research on human intersubjectivity has found that humans participate in a dialogue throughout their life, and that this is manifested not only via language, but also nonverbally, with the entire body. Such an understanding of human life has brought into focus some basic systemic ideas concerning the human relational mind. For Gregory Bateson, the mind works as a system, formed from components that are in continuous interaction with each other. In our Relational Mind research project, we followed twelve couple therapy processes involving two therapists per session, looking at the ways in which the four participants attuned to each other with their bodies, including their autonomic nervous system activity. Using observations from the project, we here describe the ways through which the relational and embodied mind can be realized in a couple therapy setting.