Conversation Analysis and Psychotherapy

An unusually detailed examination of conversation analysis from a psychotherapy perspective.

Anssi Perakyla is Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Helsinki. Chalres Antaki is Professor of Language and Social Psychology in the Department of Social Sciences at Loughborough University. Sanna Vehvilainen is a Post-Doctoral Researcher in the Centre for Research and Development of Higher Education at the University of Helsinki. Ivan Leudar is Professor of Analytical and Historical Psychology in the School of Psychological Sciences at the University of Manchester.

Review of the hardback: 'This volume highlights the considerable insights that emerge as a result of using conversation analysis to better understand psychotherapeutic interaction. Through an examination of the practices and procedures within the 'talking cure', the contributors help initiate a dialogue between students of interaction and psychotherapy researchers. Their findings indicate that conversation analysis can highlight key aspects of the psychotherapeutic process which have hitherto remained somewhat opaque.' Mike Forrester, University of Kent, Canterbury Review of the hardback: '... an outstanding edited collection. In a modest volume it brings together cutting edge conversation analytic studies of psychotherapist-client interaction. ... rigorous empirical work ... breadth of psychoanalytic theory and practice ... interesting insights into conversation analysis from an outsider's perspective. ... The book provides fascinating insights into the ways various forms of therapy are accomplished using the structures that organize social interaction. This book is a must have for students and academics with interests in conversation analysis and/or psychotherapy. It will likely become the ... most important point of reference for those interested in the moment-by-moment unfolding of psychotherapeutic interaction.' Journal of Language and Social Psychology