Knowing the unknowable: What constitutes evidence in family therapy?

Abstract

Contemporary family therapy theorists have shown an interest in narrative metaphors and sought to situate systemic therapy within the terms of postmodernist, and specifically social constructionist discourses. By this fact a challenge is presented to the researcher: how to rigorously evaluate theoretical propositions while employing a methodology that is congruent with the assumptive base of family therapy. This paper represents an attempt to rise to this challenge. A research study is presented that seeks to subject family therapy theory to systematic scrutiny while avoiding the importation of a philosophical framework that is out of step with the roots that sustain this theory. Transcripts of family therapy sessions are subjected to a discursive analysis in order to demonstrate the actual enactment of theoretical premises in therapy and the effects upon all participants. The findings are discussed in relation to the adequacy of available explanatory frameworks and the implications for the researching of this form of psychotherapeutic activity are explored.