[The techniques of the therapist: a conversation analytic perspective on language in psychotherapy]

During the interactional exchange with their patients, psychotherapists continuously assess the applicability of therapeutic interventions and how to linguistically shape these. Therapists choose on the spot which tools to use for the treatment of the patient.

To answer the questions which interactional techniques psychotherapists apply, how these constitute towards the joint construction of meaning and what their consequences are for the role of the therapist.

We used the method of conversation analysis in order to investigate the therapist’s actions and practices of speaking in a systematic manner.

In our analyses, we identified different types of techniques such as mirroring, reformulating, completion proffers and silences. These techniques varied in their openness, directiveness and in the degree to which they were transformative.

The spectrum of therapeutic interventions ranges from open and less transformative towards more directive and transformative practices of speaking. During the different interactional phases, therapists strategically vary in the application of these types of interventions and therefore also in their role as interlocutor.