About complexity, difference, and process: Towards integration and temporary closure

Abstract

Throughout the book, there is an awareness of the complexity of multi-actor sessions. The final chapter points out that all the different approaches the authors used for their analysis have a right of their own. The different research approaches and tools presented illustrate only some perspectives we can take on couple therapy. They demonstrate the usefulness of studying therapeutic sessions in their specificity in order to deepen our understanding of the conversational processes we call "couple therapy." The book closes with some final remarks on the case of Victoria and Alfonso, on the therapy process, and on the therapist’s role. The different concepts and methodologies applied by the authors shed light on various phenomena and some of them extend even beyond psychotherapy research in the narrow sense of the word.