Talking therapy: a discursive investigation of clinical psychologists' therapeutic practices

This thesis reports on a discursive and conversation analytic investigation of some of the work practices of clinical psychologists as they conduct psychological therapy. The data comprises transcribed talk-in-interaction from meetings between clinical psychologists and their patients. Specifically, the thesis provides a socio-historical review of the development of British clinical psychology and psychotherapy process research. The thesis then focuses on the contribution of discursive psychology to examining the conduct of psychological therapy. It puts in place an analysis based on the discursive, situated and constructed nature of the features of psychological therapies and how the participants make these relevant. [Continues.]