Applying The Conversational Analysis Strategies To Psychoanalytic Process Research. Rhythm And Blues: 152nd Session With Amalia (Part 1)

Studies of the psychotherapeutic process using the methods of conversation analysis can make a substantial contribution to further development of psychotherapeutic practice. The case study of Amalia, particularly session 152, has been analysed many times using different methods that are briefly reviewed here. This paper is devoted to the analysis of session 152, based on the new transcription material that includes the prosodic elements of the dialogue in the analytical dyad. Our study demonstrates the following: (a) how the analyst and the patient together create a common object of conversation, i.e. psychoanalysis; (b) the use of different therapeutic tools that have not been properly covered in literature yet and may be described as ‘devices’. We define our work as a qualitative study based on the non-statistical data of the verbal production analysis whose results may be used for advancing new hypotheses.

Applying the conversational analysis strategies to psychoanalytic process research. RHYTHM AND BLUES: 152ND session with Amalia (PART 2)

We present the results of further analys of 152nd sessions of the exemplary case of Amalia. We apply the methods of conversation analysis and the analysis of metaphors to the script of the audio record using the new system of transcription that reflects prosodic elements of dialogue in the analytic dyad. In this part of our study one can “see” a) a “dance of insight” of the patient and the analyst, which reveals the pattern of interaction between two positions; b) the creation of metaphors by the participants of the analytic dyad, which are then used as cognitive tools and means of communication that allows among other things to reflect the extraordinary complexity of the analytic interaction in a condensed way. In addition, we show the relevance of the threefold model of analytic conversation for the generalized descriptions of prosodic rhythmicity and other prosodic characteristics. This model consists of the following components: “interaction engine”, “talking to” and “talking about”.