14/08/27 The dialogical self and the change
processes in psychotherapy:
Theory, research, and practice
Joensuu – 22.8.2014
João Salgado (ISMAI – University Institute of Maia,
Portugal)
Introduction
A dialogical approach to the human mind
1 14/08/27 Images (still prevalent) of the human mind
Individualistic
A-social
A-cultural
(Salgado & Clegg, 2011)
Disembodied
2 14/08/27 And isolated
Isolated or lonely?
3 14/08/27 Society
Human mind
Mutual influences – the mind as “influenced” by other
levels
… but taken as an independent object of study
Why do we need an alternative conception of the mind?
4 14/08/27 False mirror - Magritte
“dialogue central and primary, and the old opposition
of self and society a secondary abstraction”
(Morson and Emerson, 1990, p. 53)
5 14/08/27 The mind as a “membrane” of contact
¨ 
¨ 
The “outside” world is actually also “inside”, and
there is no inside without the outside world
The mind as a membrane of contact, in which
human beings interact with the social and material
surroundings (Valsiner, 2008; Salgado & Valsiner,
2010)
Claiming for a relational alternative
¨ 
The mind is…
¤  Relational
¤  Social
¤  We
can say
– it is dialogical,
from the very
beginning of life
6 14/08/27 The contact with the world is…
¨ 
Socially-guided
¤  Janet-Vygotsky
law: the interpersonal precedes the
intrapersonal
¨ 
Semiotically-mediated
¤  Language
¨ 
and other symbolic means mediate our contact
Responsive: It demands a constant response to the social
and material world
¤  It
is a dialogical existence (Bakhtin) – always assuming a
position towards others
¤  (see Zittoun et al, 2013, Melodies of life)
Examples of positions
¨ 
They are constantly emerging
liking a political candidate
not liking the boss
greeing with the spouse
disagreeing with a colleague
tasting a coffee, …!
We are “doomed” to a constant process of position and
reposition
7 14/08/27 Minimal elements for a dialogical
account
The position
¨  The object
¨  The addressees
¨ 
(Leiman, 2004)
Levels of analysis of dialogical
perspectives
I-position A
Inner audience
I
OBJECT
INTERLOCUTOR
(real or virtual)
I-position B
Inner audience
The intrapersonal
(self-self)
interpersonal level (self-other)
e.g. Inner
divergences
about
project
One person
discussing
a the
project
with another
8 14/08/27 Application to psychology
¨ 
The dialogical-self theory (Hermans and
collaborators)
¤  Focused
on the intrapersonal level (self-self dialogical
activity)
¨ 
However, some other researchers have been giving
highly important contributions to psychology and
psychotherapy
¤  M.
Leiman (mixing the intra- and interpersonal level)
¤  J. Seikkula (favouring the interpersonal level)
The dialogical self theory
9 14/08/27 24
The first presentation of the dialogical
self-theory
“we conceptualize the self in terms of a dynamic
multiplicity of relatively autonomous I positions in
an imaginal landscape. (…)
¨  The I has the possibility to move, as in a space,
from one position to the other in accordance with
changes in situation and time. The I fluctuates
among different and even opposed positions.
¨  The I has the capacity to imaginatively endow
each position with a voice so that dialogical
relations between positions can be established.
¨ 
(Hermans, Kempen, and van Loon, 1992, p. 28-29)
dialogical space
OUTSIDE
Therapist
Therapist
EXTERNAL
INTERNAL
safe
Panicking
controlling
Supporting
grandmother
Threatening
others
Unpredictable
mother
Adapted from Hermans, 2001
10 14/08/27 Dynamic and hierarchic organization
“interaction among self-positions is not random but
involves the continuous switching or establishment and
dissolution of temporary hierarchies among selfpositions. For example, in response to overlapping
situations, say, a chance encounter, a memory, and an
ensuing joint project, several self-positions might come into
play and require ordering, such as self-as-friend, self- ascompassionate, and self-as-social critic. In our view, a kind
of internal richness accrues when movement among these
positions is fluid and coherent.”
Lysaker & Lysaker, 2006, p. 175
Positioning Microanalysis
¨ 
¨ 
In order to depict positions or voices throughout the process,
we have developed a method (Salgado & Cunha, 2012;
Salgado, Bento, & Cunha, 2013) – Positioning Microanalysis
Aims
To characterize self-positions and their development throughout
time
¤  To describe cycles of positioning and to identify changes on those
cycles
¤ 
¨ 
¨ 
Based on the coding of small units of analysis (response
units) – microdimension – which are later aggregated in
patterns (cycles of positions)
Applicable to psychotherapy transcripts
11 14/08/27 An example of PM (Lisa)
Understanding/
Forgiving
Resentful
Helplessness
Dialogical self and psychotherapy
Clinical problems and processes of change
12 14/08/27 Models of psychotherapy and the
dialogical self
¨ 
Dialogically-inspired models of psychotherapy
¤  Dialogical
Sequence Analysis (Leiman)
¤  Open Dialogue Approach (Seikkula)
¤  Metacognitive Interpersonal Therapy (Dimaggio)
¨ 
Clinical useful methods:
¤  Self-Confrontation
Method (Hermans)
¤  Personal Position Repertoire (Hermans)
¨ 
Dialogical change processes of the self as
transtheoretical, applicable to any therapeutic
approach
Clinical problems and the dialogical
self-structure
¨ 
Clinical problems as the result of conflicts between selfpositions or voices
¤  Dominance
of problematic positions (Hermans)
¤  Lack of assimilation of painful voices (Stiles)
¤  Fragmentation of the self (Lysaker & Lysaker)
¤  Interpersonal rigid patterns (Dimaggio)
¤  Problematic cycles of positioning (Salgado & Cunha)
¨ 
These types of structures create dysfunctional relational
patterns regarding particular objects or themes
13 14/08/27 1. Dominance
¨ 
Hermans (2006): clinical complaints originated by ineffective
or problematic positions that prevent the person of achieving
one’s goals.
¤ 
¨ 
Narrative related perspective: problematic self-narratives
(Gonçalves & Ribeiro, 2011), problem-saturated stories (White,
2004) or monological (Lysaker & Lysaker, 2002)
Overdominant, rigid positions: firmly established, hard to
change, easily activated or even ever-present
ineffective actions, as well as lack of flexibility and difficulties in
the articulation and dialogue with other self-positions.
¤  Clinical case study by Hermans (2006): client dominated by a
pessimistic self-position, resulting in impaired performance in daily
situations.
Extreme psychotic cases: Barren self-narratives (Lysaker & Lysaker,
2002)
¤ 
¨ 
2. Fragmentation, inconsistency or
incoherence
¨ 
Lysaker and Lysaker
¤  Schizophrenia:
lack of coordination between different
positions à cacophonic self-organization, =
disorganization of thought.
¨ 
Hermans (2006):.
¤  extended
this problematic type of self-organization to
less severe forms of psychopathology, arguing that
difficulties in articulating the diversity of self-positions
tend to originate incoherence, which is common in
clinical problems of different sorts
(see also Neimeyer, Herrero, & Botella, 2006).
14 14/08/27 3. The lack of assimilation
¨ 
Clinical problems:
¤  the
result of disconnection between parts or voices of
the self
(Stiles et al., 1990)
¤  Facing
a disruptive or incoherent experience, the person
is pressed to differentiate a difficult perspective or
voiceà rejected by the established community of voices
à non-assimilated, leaving painful experiences
unvoiced or unconnected with the usual ego-syntonic
voices of the person.
A related view…
“While we describe therapeutic conversations as
dialogues, we have to keep in mind that they are not
readymade stories or narratives, but rather ‘‘broken’’
stories. Clients are speaking about particularly sensitive
and emotional issues, and while some of what the clients
say can be understood as narratives about their lives, in
many respects, their narratives may be incomplete,
multivoiced, and contradictory (Gergen, 2009). Clients do
not have exact words or phrases to utter their most
sensitive experiences and their most pressing concerns.”
(Seikkula, Laitila, & Rober, 2012, p. 2)
15 14/08/27 4. Positions as interpersonal patterns
(G. Dimaggio)
Problematic voices or positions are part not only of
intrapersonal dialogues between different selfpositions, but also as part of the ongoing real
dialogues with others.
¨  Therefore, self-positions are thought to be also
modes of interpersonal action, which tend to create
specific results and expectations, creating
interpersonal cycles that can be perpetuated
throughout time
¨ 
5. A dynamic view
¨ 
By using Positioning Microanalysis in a series of
intensive case studies, we proposed the notion of
16 14/08/27 5. Toward a dynamic view of clinical problems:
Problematic Cycles
¨ 
Based on intensive cases analysis, we have been
proposing the notion of “cycles of positions” to
describe self-dynamics (Salgado & Cunha, 2012; see also
Leiman, for a related proposal)
¤  Cycles
of positions = sequential patterns of positions
with observable stability across time
¤  Problematic cycles versus Alternative cycles
n  Problematic
Cycles: Cycles associated with clinical problems;
Recurrent; Dynamic stability
Example of one Problematic Cycle
Determined
Distressed
Changed
Submissive
Cautious
Confused
17 14/08/27 Processes of clinical change under a
dialogical perspective
¨ 
¨ 
Change in the dialogical self-structure and
dynamics, both in self-self and self-others
relationships.
What changes?
Processes of clinical change:
1. New positions
¨ 
Emergence of new and healthier positions (more
agentic; more empathic) (Hermans; Leiman & Stiles;
Leiman)
¤  E.g.
A confident position in a system previously
dominated by self-doubt and criticism
18 14/08/27 Processes of clinical change:
2. Available positions
¨ 
Change in the availability of self-positions
(Hermans)
¤  E.g.
the confident self-position that was highly available
in the past but apparently hard to emerge in the
middle of a specific period of life can again become
available
Processes of clinical change:
3. Coalitions between positions
¨ 
Coalitions between positions, counteracting the
previously dominant positions (Hermans)
¤  Hard-working
and playful position create a coalition to
counteract the pessimistic position
19 14/08/27 Processes of clinical change:
4. Assimilation of avoided positions
¨ 
Change in the dialogical articulation between selfpositions, promoting the integration of previously
avoided or rejected voices (Stiles)
Processes of clinical change:
5. Emergence of a metaposition
¨ 
Emergence of new form of self-observation:
healthier “metaposition” (Leiman; Hermans)
¤  More
empathic forms of self-understanding
20 14/08/27 Processes of clinical change:
6. A dynamic view on change
¨ 
Positioning Micronalysis and the Alternative Cycles:
¨ 
Cycles associated with clinical change
¨ 
Increasing instability followed by a stable pattern
An example of an Alternative Cycle
Distressed
Determined
Valued
Confused
Distant
Peacefu
l
New positions and Higher diversity
Problematic positionsl ess available
New forms of self-appraisal
Higher integration between “negative” and “positive” emotions
Coalitions of positions
More dominant cycle
21 14/08/27 Overall Process
Problematic
cycle
Alternative
cycle
Poorly differentiated
and unconnected field
Therapy
(Scarcity of self-positions
and interactions between
them)
Dominance of
problematic cycle
Differentiated,
connected and
recursive field
Dominance of
Alternative cycle
Final remarks
¨ 
Next big challenges
¤  To
connect more clearly the processes of self-change
with therapeutic events (how self-change is promoted)
¤  To
explore the dialogical forms of self-self and selfother relating and their role on clinical change
22 14/08/27 Kiitos!!
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