Family Therapy as a Process of Humanisation: The Contribution and Creativity of Dialogism.

Family therapy shaped by the twin contributions of radical humanism (after Freire) and dialogism together create a binocular vision for practice. This vision encompasses the intricacies of moment to moment responses that are seen to occur within a politically informed and socially structured relational context. The breadth of practice possibilities shows no allegiance to any particular 'school' of family therapy but rather advocates for an orientation that humanises the relationship between therapist and family. This humanising orientation counters 'technologies' of practice that reduce the social or relational complexity of human existence creating categories of deficiency or pathology that individualise distress. Practical applications of aspects of dialogism are described and illustrated with a focus on multi-actor participation and attention to embodied responsiveness by the therapist. An attitude that encourages joint experimentation, serious playfulness and the 'performative' are offered as examples of the scope of a dialogically informed humanising practice. In addition practice challenges are considered, in particular where contexts of power 'over' the other are a necessary part of one's professional context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]