So let’s say men can’t understand that much
Gender and relational practices in psychotherapy with women suffering from eating disorders
In this paper we look at three extracts of two psychotherapy sessions between a female therapist and a woman
patient suffering from bulimia and depression. We use conversation analysis and membership categorization analysis to examine
how gender, indexing the quality of the emotional bond between participants, is interactionally managed in view of the
session’s goals.
The findings show the patient relying on gender as category-sharing to account for her actions and seek
understanding. The therapist, however, tends to resist the category-sharing and engages the patient in extensive work around
gender categories. Women psychotherapists should be particularly attuned to women patients’ invoking of category-sharing and
critically consider its relevance and application in the situated context of therapy work.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Psychotherapy and relational practices
- 3.Data and methods
- 4.Data analysis
- 5.Concluding remarks
-
Transcription conventions (see Jefferson
2004)
-
References
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