Strengthening the position of family therapy and systemic practice through methodology

Abstract

First paragraph: There is little doubt that there is a fit at method, theory and epistemological levels between constructionist/constructivist therapy and research. Qualitative research has a resonance with systemic practitioners with a desire to see/hear the voices of participants, in a way that is isomorphic with the therapeutic endeavour. A recent paper has begun to tease out some of the important convergences between qualitative research and family therapy (De Haene, 2010). In this paper the author focuses on dialogical methods from the qualitative stable, suggesting an essential joining of therapy and research. Through an argument based around constructivism she suggests that language-based research is itself interventive, and thereby concludes that "the division between research and therapy no longer stands" (p. 9).