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Challenges, Speculations, Risks: Flying With Dragons: Social Constructionism Beyond the Realm of Academia
Author(s) -
MarchettiMercer M. C.,
Strauss L.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
australian and new zealand journal of family therapy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.297
H-Index - 19
eISSN - 1467-8438
pISSN - 0814-723X
DOI - 10.1002/j.1467-8438.2004.tb00606.x
Subject(s) - postmodernism , realm , conversation , psychology , resistance (ecology) , sociology , family therapy , field (mathematics) , psychotherapist , psychoanalysis , epistemology , aesthetics , political science , law , philosophy , ecology , mathematics , communication , pure mathematics , biology
Postmodernism has had far‐reaching effects on the field of psychology and psychotherapy, allowing us to question truths which were once thought to be infallible. Students in psychotherapy in particular are often excited by the new and dynamic possibilities for practice that arise from postmodernism. However, these new therapists often experience ‘resistance’ when, from their position as students or interns, they try to engage with traditional services, such as psychiatric facilities. This article takes the form of a conversation between a supervisor and a Clinical Psychology Masters student who is attempting to write a thesis that will reflect the spirit of postmodern thinking while at the same time be acceptable to university requirements. The student's thesis is based on her attempt to do postmodern family therapy with the family of a patient diagnosed with schizophrenia. But their dialogue keeps being interrupted by other voices, as characters from the ‘dramatic dialogue’ the student has imagined break into ‘reality’, leaving the reader to ponder what is really going on.