DIALOGICAL PRACTICE

Since coming into contact with the dialogical approach to family therapy, Judith has primarily focused on operationalising dialogical ideas in clinical practice. Dialogical practice involves an ethos or a way of being as a therapist, as well as sophisticated and nuanced clinical skills that readily extend to be useful in individual, couple and family therapy within a variety of differing contexts.

Judith has been sensitised to the nuances of dialogical practice by a variety of means. As well as her engagement with formal observation and training, her sensitivity has been deepened by:

• Thinking, conceptualisation and writing about elements of dialogical elements practice, based on her observation of clinical practice in Tornio, as detailed in the paper: Theory, practice and use of self in the open dialogue approach to family therapy: A simple complexity or a complex simplicity?

• Subsequent dialogue and collaborative writing with four Finnish therapists from Tornio, Mia Kurtti, Timo Haaraniemi, Elina Löhönen and Päivi Vahtola, about their experiences and understanding of clinical practice, as detailed in the paper: A North–South Dialogue on Open Dialogues in Finland: The Challenges and the Resonances of Clinical Practice

• The conceptualisation and layering of dialogical skills in her own clinical practice with families of foster children with histories of infant trauma and neglect, as outlined in the paper: Therapeutic moments are the key: foster children give clues to their past experience of infant trauma and neglect

• The conceptualistion and operationalisation of the dialogical ideas of Martin Buber in family therapy and research in terms of dialogical process and dialogical moments, as detailed in the paper: Wherefore Art ‘Thou’ in the Dialogical Approach: The Relevance of Buber’s Ideas to Family Therapy and Research

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