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Mary Olson, Ph.D.*
Jaakko Seikkula, Ph.D.#
Douglas Ziedonis, M.D., MPH*
* University of Massachusetts Medical School, USA
# University of Jyväskylä, Finland
This work has been supported by a grant from the Foundation for Excellence in Mental Health
Care awarded to Dr. Ziedonis at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.
The intent of this document is to support the development of an Open Dialogue practice for
whole teams participating in Open Dialogue meetings, for supervision and training purposes,
and for helping in systematic research. These teams can also be used for “self-reflection” by
an individual practitioner.
The authors share the copyright of this work. The material may be distributed in whole with
the authors’ permission. Please contact Dr. Ziedonis if you are interested in translating this
work to another language. Douglas.Ziedonis@umassmemorial.org
This work should be cited as follows:
Olson, M, Seikkula, J. & Ziedonis, D. (2014). The key elements of dialogic practice in Open
Dialogue. The University of Massachusetts Medical School. Worcester, MA.
September 2, 2014
Version 1.1
THE KEY ELEMENTS OF DIALOGIC PRACTICE
IN OPEN DIALOGUE: FIDELITY CRITERIA
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Introduction
“Dialogic Practice” arose from “Open Dialogue” as an approach to help persons and their
families feel heard, respected, and validated. Starting in 1984, at Keropudas Hospital in Tornio,
Finland, staff already trained in family therapy decided to change the way inpatient admissions
were handled. Following the work of Yrjö Alanen (1997), they altered their response to acute
crises by having a network meeting, bringing together the person in distress, their family,
other natural supports, and any professionals involved, in advance of any decision about
hospitalization. This was the birth of a new, open practice that evolved—in tandem with
continued clinical innovation, organizational change, and research--into what has come to be
known as “Open Dialogue,” first described as such in 1995 (Aaltonen Seikkula, & Lehtinen,
2011; Seikkula et al., 1995). The “openness” of Open Dialogue refers to the transparency of the
therapy planning and decision-making processes, which take place while everyone is present.
(It does not mean that families are forced to talk about issues therapists think they should be
open about.) From the outset, this network approach was for all treatment situations. Over a
ten-year period, this formerly traditional inpatient facility in Tornio was transformed into a
comprehensive psychiatric system with continuity of care across community, outpatient, and
inpatient settings.
The practice of Open Dialogue thus has two fundamental features: (1), a community-based,
integrated treatment system that engages families and social networks from the very
beginning of their seeking help; and (2), a “Dialogic Practice,” or distinct form of therapeutic
conversation within the “treatment meeting.” This current document divides Dialogic Practice
into twelve elements that describe the approach of the therapist(s) in the treatment meeting
to the person, their network, and all the helpers.
The treatment meeting constitutes the key therapeutic context of Open Dialogue by unifying
the professionals and the network into a collaborative enterprise. Thus, Dialogic Practice is
embedded in a larger psychiatric service that shares its premises, because it is essential to
have both aspects. The Open Dialogue approach is an integrative one in which other
therapeutic modalities (Ziedonis, Fulwiler, Tonelli, 2014; Ziedonis et al, 2005; Ziedonis 2004)
can be added, adapted to the needs of the person and family, as part of an unfolding and
flexible “treatment web” (Hald, 2013; Seikkula & Arnkil 2014).
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There are seven basic principles of Open Dialogue, which are the overarching guidelines that
the Finnish team originally proposed (Seikkula et al., 1995). The principles are listed in the
Table below:
TABLE 1: The Seven Principles of Open Dialogue
IMMEDIATE HELP
SOCIAL NETWORK PERSPECTIVE
FLEXIBILITY AND MOBILITY
RESPONSIBILITY
PSYCHOLOGICAL CONTINUITY
TOLERANCE OF UNCERTAINTY
DIALOGUE (& POLYPHONY)
Relevant both to Open Dialogue as a form of therapy and a system of care, these seven
principles represent the broad set of values, on which the more finely focused twelve fidelity
elements of Dialogic Practice are based. For the purposes of this discussion on Dialogic
Practice, the two principles of “dialogue (polyphony)” and “tolerance of uncertainty” will be
given special attention as the foundation of therapeutic conversation within the treatment
meeting. The other five of the seven principles, which emphasize the organizational features of
the system, will be explicated in another document on organizational change and the system
fidelity characteristics (Ziedonis, Seikkula, & Olson, in preparation). This companion document
on organizational change will describe different ways that the Open Dialogue principles and
the treatment meeting have been integrated into clinical practice, treatment programs,
agencies, and systems of care.
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In the current document on Dialogic Practice, the seven basic principles of Open Dialogue are
not all covered in full detail; however they are elaborated in other readily accessible source
documents (Seikkula & Arnkil, 2006; Seikkula & Arnkil, 2014). The following discussion will
focus on the twelve, key elements of fidelity to Dialogic Practice that characterize the
therapeutic, interactive style of Open Dialogue in face-to-face encounters within the treatment
meeting.
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DIALOGIC PRACTICE: AN OVERVIEW
To be in a transformative dialogue with people requires presence, an attention to the living
moment without a preconceived hypothesis or specific agenda. The art and skill of Dialogic
Practice means that the therapists’ communications are not formulaic. Open Dialogue involves
being able to listen and adapt to the particular context and language of every exchange. For
this reason, it is not possible here to make specific recommendations for sessions in advance,
or for invariant phases in the treatment process. Prescribing this form of detailed structure
could actually work against the process of Open Dialogue. It is the unique interaction among
the unique group of participants engaging in an inevitably idiosyncratic therapeutic
conversation that provides the possibilities for positive change.
At the same time, there are systematic elements of Dialogic Practice. In this way, there is a
paradox. While every dialogue is unique, there are distinct elements, or conversational actions
on the part of the therapists, that generate and promote the flow of dialogue and, in turn,
help mobilize the resources of the person at the center of concern and the network. This is
what we mean by the key elements. They will be defined and described below.
Dialogic Practice is based on a special kind of interaction, in which the basic feature is that
each participant feels heard and responded to. With an emphasis on listening and responding,
Open Dialogue fosters the co-existence of multiple, separate, and equally valid “voices,” or
points of view, within the treatment meeting. This multiplicity of voices within the network is
what Bakhtin calls “polyphony.” In the context of a tense and severe crisis, this process can be
complex, requiring sensitivity in bringing forth the voices of those who are silent, less vocal,
hesitant, bewildered, or difficult to understand. Within a “polyphonic conversation,” there is
space for each voice, thus reducing the gap between the so-called “sick” and “well.” The
collaborative exchange among all the different voices weaves new, more shared
understandings to which everyone contributes an important thread. This results in a common
experience which Bakhtin describes as “without rank.”
As stated above, by calling a sequence “dialogical,” we mean specifically that the sequence has
the potential for a person to feel heard, which is the beginning of any change. Evaluating the
dialogical quality of a conversation means, first and foremost, evaluating the responsiveness of
the therapists. Among the first steps is often for one of the therapists to engage with the
person at the center of the crisis in a careful, detailed, back-and-forth interchange. The
purpose is to listen and, as necessary, assist in finding words for the person’s distress,
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otherwise embodied in symptoms, and evolve toward a common language. As illustrated
below, having input from the network assists in shedding further light on the nature of the
crisis. The dialogical therapist invites each person in the meeting to share their perspective
and the various, related issues that come up during the conversation. Instead of looking at
therapists’ skills in terms of the way they conduct a structured interviewing methodology, the
principal criterion is the often personal way the therapists respond to the afflicted person’s
utterances and those of others present in the meeting.
Responding and Reflecting
There are two fundamental skills required for clinicians to do Dialogic Practice: the skill of
responding and the skill of reflecting (Rober, 2005). The skill of responding is a three-part
process that applies to the way all the fidelity elements are employed. This process must be
present to call an exchange dialogical. While defining the quality of the therapist’s action, one
has to look at the (1) client’s initial utterance; (2) the therapist’s response to that utterance;
and (3) the response to the response given. How does the therapist’s response further the
experience of each participant in being heard, understood, and acknowledged? How do these
three steps generate dialogically responsive interaction?
The other basic skill of Dialogic Practice—the skill of reflecting--is the ability to engage in an
open, participatory, transparent, and jargon-free conversation with the network and other
professionals in the meeting. The skill of reflecting builds on the skill of responding.
Parenthetically, “reflecting” is different than how this same term is used in other forms of
therapy. For example, in motivational interviewing, “reflecting” refers to how the therapist
actively listens to what the client says. In Dialogic Practice, this term refers instead to the way
the professionals talk about their own ideas in front of the family. We have learned from
others that this can be confusing since many therapists interested in Dialogic Practice have
also been trained in motivational interviewing.
Monologue and Dialogue
The Open Dialogue treatment meeting includes both monological and dialogical
communication. So-called “monological” sequences in dialogue are necessary to make
practical agreements, or to gain new information that can assist in a more complete
understanding of the situation. By monological communication, we mean there are sequences
in which the therapists themselves introduce conversational topics. Such sequences can
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comprise information gathering, providing advice, treatment planning, or otherwise initiating
new subjects for discussion that did not build on what the client or another participant
previously had said (Seikkula, 2002). In an Open Dialogue treatment meeting, up to one third
(1/3) of the conversation can be monological, to stay consistent with the approach and
conduct an effective meeting. Monologue can refer to the nature of communication either
within the social network or that between the experts and the network.
That said, there is a difference between monological communication described above and
what is meant by the term, “monological discourse.” The latter refers to an institutional way of
talking, in which there is a privileged, top-down expert without a contributing listener. Instead
of sustaining a dialogue among the various participants, all of whom are regarded as
legitimate and equal, an entirely monological approach works against a more collaborative
process that can lead to new ideas and creativity. In explaining this contrast further, it is
helpful to refer to John Shotter’s (2004) translation of “dialogical” versus “monological”
discourse into the more accessible terms of “withness thinking” versus “aboutness thinking”
(Hoffman, 2007). In our clinical experience, this former way of thinking and practice has tended
to open up more possibilities in psychiatric crises and to help unfreeze situations away from
chronicity.
In what follows, we will describe each of the fidelity elements of Dialogic Practice in Open
Dialogue and give clinical examples to illustrate them. The examples are drawn from the
therapy sessions of the first and second authors, working together and separately. While every
session incorporates these elements, we have chosen to include illustrations from different
families. The reason for this is to give a sense of the different kinds of problems and situations
we have addressed. There are also additional, supplemental definitions and examples of
important concepts in the Glossary. These twelve fidelity elements are not separate but often
overlap and occur simultaneously in actual practice.
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Table 2: The Twelve Key Elements of Fidelity to Dialogic Practice in Open Dialogue
1. Two (or More) Therapists in the Team Meeting
2. Participation of Family and Network
3. Using Open-Ended Questions
4. Responding To Clients’ Utterances
5. Emphasizing the Present Moment
6. Eliciting Multiple Viewpoints
7. Use of a Relational Focus in the Dialogue
8. Responding to Problem Discourse or Behavior in a Matter-of-Fact Style and
Attentive to Meanings
9. Emphasizing the Clients’ Own Words and Stories, Not Symptoms
10. Conversation Amongst Professionals (Reflections) in the Treatment Meetings
11. Being Transparent
12. Tolerating Uncertainty
THE TWELVE KEY ELEMENTS OF FIDELITY TO DIALOGIC PRACTICE
1. Two (or More) Therapists
The Open Dialogue approach emphasizes the importance of multiple therapists meeting as a
team with the social network. There should be at least two therapists in the meeting. The
teamwork is essential to responding effectively to severe, acute crises and chronic psychiatric
conditions. One therapist can be interviewing the client(s), while the other takes a listening
and reflecting position. Or, it can be the case that both therapists are asking questions and
engaging in reflections. The “reflecting process” of Tom Andersen (1991) and the “reflective
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talk” of Seikkula & Arnkil (2006) are both acceptable formats and will be described in greater
detail under Item #10 below. Further, it is important to differentiate Open Dialogue practice
from elective, non-crisis-service, outpatient therapy. Over the past decade, Dialogic Practice
has been adapted to more ordinary couple and family therapy (Olson, 2012; Seikkula, 2014), in
which it is possible to conduct Dialogic Practice as a solo therapist. Of note, we are writing a
summary of our experience on how to conduct Dialogic Practice as a solo therapist that we
will reference here when completed.
2. Participation of Family and/or Network Members
The engagement with the network begins on the phone with the clinician asking the caller
such questions as, for instance: “Who is concerned about the situation or who has been
involved?” “Who could be of help and is able to participate in the first meeting?” “Who would
be the best person to invite them, you or the treatment team?” These questions both facilitate
network participation and help to organize the meeting in a nonhierarchical way, that is, with
input from the client(s).
By valuing the inclusion of the family and other members of the social network from the very
beginning, they typically become important partners in the treatment process throughout. At
the same time, there is flexibility based on the willingness of the person at the center to have
their relatives present. The team can meet separately with different family and network
members when conjoint meetings are not possible, as in many instances of violence and
abuse.
As we will describe below (under Element #6), meetings without family or network members
involved can also occur in which the therapist will then ask questions inviting the person to
comment on what they think an absent member would say if they were present.
3. Use of Open-Ended Questions
The actual treatment meeting itself begins with open-ended questions asked by the clinicians.
After introductions, an opening thus could be formulated by simply asking, “Who would like to
start?” Or, “what would be best way to begin?” Once this kind of collaborative process
becomes established and expected, it is naturally carried forward into subsequent meetings as
a taken-for-granted element. In the very first appointment, it is important to emphasize the
two questions that routinely commence an Open Dialogue meeting and were proposed by
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Tom Andersen (1991). They are: (1) “what is the history of the idea of coming here today?”
And, (2) “how would you like to use this meeting?”
In this way, there are three subcategories of open-ended questions that we would like to
address. First, there is the use of the “two questions” in the very first meeting; second, there is
the use of the second of those questions in every meeting, and third, the ongoing practice of
open-ended questions throughout the treatment process.
A.The History of the Idea to Have the Meeting?
“What is the history of the idea of the meeting? This question usually occurs only in the initial
meeting and comes at the beginning. But, depending on the nature of the intake, it can also
come later in the first meeting. It can be phrased in various ways and is addressed initially to
the whole assembly, not just one person. “How did you have the idea to have this meeting?”
Alternately, it is possible to start by asking, “Who first thought of having this meeting?” There
is also a range of possible follow-up questions meant to engage everyone present: “How did
others learn about this idea? What did you think of coming here today? Who agreed the most
and least with the idea of contacting the team? What would you like to accomplish?
It is important to give everyone a chance to discuss their ideas about the meeting. At the same
time, if, at any time, someone does not wish to speak, it is equally important not to force them
to do so.
This type of question invites people to speak in a reflective voice. By reflective, we mean
asking people to discuss their own purposes, intentions, and aims with regard to the decision
of seeking help. Beginning in this way, this first question addresses the immediate context and
is neutral toward any definition of a problem or symptom. It encourages people to describe
the situation leading up to the meeting and the important people involved. Despite the
emphasis on history, the question gives immediate multiple entrees into the present moment.
Andersen (1991) writes, “The idea behind this question is to reach an understanding about
how much those who are present are committed to the idea of being present (p. 159).” Often
when asked, different participants express different viewpoints on their commitments to being
present, which is important to know, especially when the idea of therapy itself may be
contested terrain. At other times, this question can locate a potential resource by identifying
people not present who could be helpful. This question does not have just one meaning or
effect, and sometimes something completely unexpected happens.
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B. How Would You Like To Use this Meeting?
The second question is “How would you like to use this meeting?” The question can be
phrased in different ways. As with the earlier question, the second question is addressed to
the whole assembly, not to one person. At the same time, it is important to give everyone a
chance to respond to this question.
This second question is asked in the first meeting and, with some variation, in all subsequent
meetings. Usually this question occurs at the beginning of a meeting. There are instances
where it comes later, so the timing depends on the therapist being sensitive to the particular
nuances of how a particular meeting is unfolding.
The rationale behind this question is that in Dialogic Practice, it is the clients rather than the
professionals, who principally determine the content of the meeting, That is, we talk about
what the clients want to talk about. For this reason, in every meeting, the therapist asks the
client how they wish to use the meeting. Over time, with such repetition, the second question
may become more implied, rather than directly stated.
Case Example of the Two Questions: The L. Family
The L. Family consisted of David, age 59, a paralegal, his wife, Tracy, age 56, an
occupational therapist, and their son, Jack, age 30, who rarely spoke and lived with his
parents. Jack was hospitalized for depression for the first time when he was 16 years
old. He has had multiple diagnoses over the years (psychosis NOS, schizoaffective
disorder, and schizophrenia) and had been involved with mental health services until
several years ago. The first Open Dialogue meeting with this family began with the
two therapists and the parents sitting together in a circle, while Jack chose to sit in a
chair slightly outside the arrangement, listening, seeming occasionally to be
communicating with invisible presences. There were pleasantries exchanged at the
beginning and one of the therapists’ then started, signaling the beginning of the
therapeutic conversation:
Therapist 1: “So, here we are. Should we start?”
Therapist 2: “Yes, let’s start.”
The therapists introduced themselves to Jack and asked the parents if they minded
being called by their first names. Therapist 1 said, “Jack, do you prefer to stay where
you are, listening?” His mother suggested to Jack to join them, but Therapist 1
indicated that he did not mind if Jack stayed where he was, if that is where he felt
most comfortable. Therapist 1 then asked the first question:
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Therapist 1: So there is a history behind this meeting? Was it the case that you
wrote to me? Or, how was this? Someone wrote….
David: I wrote…
Therapist 1: So you wrote to me. Ok.
David: I wrote to both of you (looking at Therapist 2). I got email addresses from
your universities. Actually Tracy dictated the first letter. It was a mutual decision.
Tracy: I told him to polish it up…
David: I didn’t expect a direct answer.
Therapist: Yeah. You didn’t expect a direct answer.
The father then described how he had been searching on the web for an alternative to
the kind of psychiatric care that his son had dropped out of some years before. There
were long descriptions of their negative experiences with professionals. Jack became
restless and started to leave the room.
Therapist 1 (addressing Jack who is standing at the door): When did you hear
about coming here for the first time?
The therapist asked this question several ways, and the parents repeated the question
until Jack answered: “Three days ago.”
A few minutes later, the therapist asked the second question:
Therapist 1 (looking at Tracy): How do you think it is best to use this time here
now?
Tracy: It is hard for us to know what is the best to do for Jack? That is what we
are thinking about mainly now. That is why we think this kind of psych treatment
would be better. That it might open him up more to the ……(search for the word.)
Therapist 2: to the community? (A word Tracy had used earlier.)
Tracy. Yes, thank you, the community.
These two questions let the therapists know that the parents both were committed to the idea
of doing Open Dialogue, rather than in conflict about it, and had a shared motivation to help
their son. There was evidence that Jack was not opposed to the idea, since he willingly came
with them. These questions created a window on the parents’ joint perception that there was
“more to Jack,” whom, as they explained, had been defined as chronic and hopeless by the
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mental health system. This excerpt also provides an illustration of making contact with each
person early in the meeting and allowing each person to have a voice in relation to the theme
being discussed, namely, the nature of the meeting.
After beginning with above-mentioned questions, it is important throughout the meeting to
have in mind formulating the questions in an open-ended way, so that clients can take the
initiative both to speak about what they see as important and in the way that they would like
to discuss it. For therapists, this means that they guide the dialogical process by neither
determining nor selecting topics, but by their way of responding to clients’ utterances. In the
next section, and throughout this document, there will be examples of this kind of openended
inquiry.
4. Responding To Clients’ Utterances
The therapist promotes dialogue by responding to the client’s utterances commonly in three
ways that invite a further response. This includes (A) using the client’s own words; (B) engaging
in responsive listening; and (C) sustaining attunement to nonverbal utterances, including
silences.
A. Use of the Client’s Words
The clinician actively follows what the client says and integrates the client’s very same words
and phrases into their responses. The above example shows how the therapists do this,
closely listening to what clients say and repeating the client’s own words in asking questions
or making other comments. What the client has previously said is incorporated—with their
very same words-- into the therapists’ responses. Here is a brief vignette from the L. family of
David, Tracy, and Jack that took place in the initial meeting described above.
Case Example of the Use of Clients’ Words: The L. Family
David: I didn’t expect a direct answer.
Therapist: Yeah. You didn’t expect a direct answer.
David: I didn’t expect an answer. I knew there was a training program in Open
Dialogue. I didn’t think it would be a direct possibility. I thought maybe, you’d say
at a future point. I was surprised. It made me think that I was on the right track.
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B. Responsive Listening To Make Space for Stories That Are Not Yet Told
The practice of repeating words leads naturally into “responsive listening,” or listening without
a specific agenda. Responsive listening often creates an atmosphere in which the clients’ begin
to tell important personal stories that they have not shared--or do not share easily--with
others, especially professionals. There is evidence that the therapist’s responses are effective
when, for instance, there is change experienced during a meeting in the direction of a calmer
atmosphere. The conversation has pauses, silences, and more shared exploration of--reflection
about—issues and concerns in a dialogical ebb and flow.
In the meeting with the L. family of David, Tracy, and Jack, the therapists listened responsively.
They repeated words, or, with small questions, invited alternate and more hopeful perspectives
(together with a lot of “Mhms”). In response, the parents expanded on the qualities of their
son that gave them hope. They told several pivotal and unexpected stories that the therapists
never could have anticipated. For example, his parents described how Jack saved a woman’s
life in the residential community he was living in by notifying staff that she was suicidal. This
and other affirming stories told during the session characterized Jack as a person capable of
acting to help and protect others, rather than only as a person in need of help and protection
himself. As these stories were told and heard by the Open Dialogue clinicians, a more positive
identity was constituted and new possibilities were reviewed for Jack’s recovery that had not
been captured by his diagnoses.
C. Nonverbal Attunement, Including to Silences
The therapist shows attunement to the client’s analogic (nonverbal) communications.
Importantly, this also includes allowing for and tolerating silences in the conversation.
It is crucial to pay close attention to what is being communicated through body-based
channels as well as words. Here is an example from the above meeting when the therapist
returns at a later point in the meeting to address his initial encounter with Jack:
Case Example of Responding to a Body-Based Communication: the
L. family:
Therapist 1 (addressing Jack): When I first met you in the reception, and I
proposed to shake hands, you said, “No, I don’t shake hands...” Can you help me a
bit more: Why don’t you shake hands?
Jack: I didn’t feel like touching you.
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Therapist 1: Oh, you didn’t want to touch.
Jack: No.
In the above example, this exchange elicited from Jack a clearly verbalized preference, in
contrast to expressing his voice in the meeting principally through physical gestures such as
sitting outside the circle or leaving the room when sensitive issues came up. At the same time,
while such analogic (nonverbal) behaviors might be viewed as symptoms, they are respected
as important communications within the meeting.
In this way, therapists notice clients’ gestures and movements, their breathing, change in their
tone of voice, their vocal pitch, their facial expressions, and the rhythm of their utterances and
changes in that rhythm. If a therapist’s question produces a pause in the client’s breathing,
this is meaningful. It may be a sign that the question was too difficult or challenging and thus
blocking the possibility of new meanings arising.
Allowing for silences in the therapeutic conversation can be another important form of
therapeutic attunement, since silence often offers a creative prelude for untold stories and the
emergence of new voices. The allowable period of silence cannot be quantified, but has to be
felt from within the shared context. Such indices are essential for the therapists to notice and
know how to respond to, with the hope of understanding as much as possible the meaning of
what the client utters.
5. Emphasizing the Present Moment
The clinician emphasizes the present moment of meeting. There are two, interrelated parts to
this: (A) responding to the immediate reactions that occur in the conversation; and (B)
allowing for the emotions that arise.
A. Responding to Immediate Reactions
This means a preference for responding to the client’s immediate reactions that occur in the
here-and-now therapeutic interaction, rather than on their reports on what has happened
outside the therapy room. A simple example of this in the meeting described above with Jack
and his family is the interchange about shaking hands.
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B. Allowing Emotions to Arise
A more complex dimension of emphasizing the present moment unfolds if the client becomes
emotionally moved while speaking about a sensitive issue. When emotions arise such as
sadness, anger, or joy, the task of therapists is to make space for their emotions in a safe way,
but not to give an immediate interpretation of such emotional, embodied reactions. Here is
an example of the latter:
The V. Couple: Emphasizing the Present Moment When Emotions
Are Present
Margaret was a 25 year-old woman who has been on disability for depression. She
and her husband Henry were coming to their second session of couple therapy. The
first session had focused on Margaret’s symptom of severe depression. The
beginning of the second session seemed rather chaotic and tense. Therapist 1 recalled
the way Margaret and Henry, who were about 5 minutes late, entered the building. It
seemed that there was some commotion, and Henry had to convince Margaret, who
appeared quite upset and agitated, to come into the office. The therapist asked Henry
how he was doing. “Quite good,” he answered. The therapist turned to his wife:
T1: “Margaret, what about you?”

M: “Well, I feel differently. I did not want to come here today. I am not usually like
this...”
T1: You didn’t want to come here today. For some specific reason or?
M: I think that I have just been working too much, and I am tired.
T1: Mhm.
Margaret’s answer seemed to contain three disconnected statements. The therapist‘s
answer--“you didn’t want to come here today?”--was a response to one of
Margareta’s utterances and not the other two. It did not comment on her display of
emotion, yet addressed the specific concern most active in the present moment, “not
wanting to come,” which is an invitation to be in dialogue.
6. Eliciting Multiple Viewpoints: Polyphony
Open Dialogue does not strive for a consensus, but for the juxtaposition and creative
exchange of multiple viewpoints and voices, even if they are in tension between people or
within a person. There are two dimensions to the multiplicity of viewpoints and voices, or
polyphony: (A) outer and (B) inner. In outer polyphony, the therapist engages everyone in the
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conversation, encouraging all voices to be heard and respected, while, integrating incongruent
language, and managing a dialogue instead of a monologue. In inner polyphony, the therapist
listens for and encourages each person to speak about their own point of view and
experiences in complex ways.
A. Outer Polyphony
Everyone should be listened to and given the possibility of speaking, not just the person
identified as having problems or symptoms. Experiencing, or “living in,” the polyphony of
voices within the meeting, a multiplicity of voices, the clinician should be sensitive to everyone
present and hear from everyone about the important themes under discussion. In both the
first example of the L. family of David, Tracy, and Jack and the second example of the couple,
Margaret and Henry, the therapists made sure that each person was given the chance to
speak. With Jack’s family, there was an interweaving of their different voices into a common
understanding of their collective isolation, not just focusing on Jack’s predicament. Here is a
further example from the therapy of Margaret and Henry.
Case Example of Outer Polyphony: the V. Couple
In the second session, Margaret and Henry progressed from a state of turmoil and
escalating conflict to the emergence of a more constructive interaction that
culminated in their open discussion of their differences. As we described, Margaret
began the session in an upset, agitated state. She stated early in the session that her
husband was never home. The therapist responded by repeating her word with an
edge in his tone of voice and directness that matched her emotional intensity: “What
does “never” mean?” After this comment, there was a palpable shift. Instead of
continuing to display an escalating sense of misery, Margaret began to speak more
respectfully to the therapist, as if she suddenly felt the session might hold the
possibility of her being heard. Henry also changed after the therapists’ comment and
began to express himself more clearly in an assertive voice that dissented from that of
his wife. Prior to this exchange, Henry’s comments were almost incoherent. As the
therapist continued to engage with each partner in a responsive way, there emerged a
dialogue not only between the therapist and each partner, but also between the
couple themselves. They, for the first time, started to speak from distinct “I” positions,
addressing their partner as “you.” They were each able to maintain the clarity of their
own separate perspectives and listen to and hear the other person’s perspective.
While not initially agreeing, they, nevertheless, began to negotiate toward eventually
forging a new solution to their central conflict. In this way, a small segment of a
conversation reconstituted an entire context as a dialogic one that sustained
polyphony.
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Another key dimension of the principle of polyphony is the clinician’s ability to integrate
language by other professionals and members of the social network that is jarringly
incongruent with the dialogical way of working. The occurrence of such incongruent
comments does not occur in every session, but handling such remarks is such an important
element of sustaining a polyphonic conversation that we are including it here. Here is an
example from a third family, the P. Family.
Case Example: Integrating Incongruent Remarks: the P. Family
The P. Family was seeking help for their 25 year-old son Christopher who had had an
acute psychotic episode several years ago while in his last year of college. His parents,
John, age 60, and Sheila, age 56, who had been going through a difficult divorce when
Christopher had this crisis, had remained embattled and estranged. Sheila was a
teacher with a stable job, while John was an unemployed carpenter. During
Christopher’s psychosis, his parents had him involuntarily hospitalized at a private
university hospital where his treatment was primarily psychopharmacological. He had
had trouble holding a job since then and was living at home with his mother, Sheila.
Christopher had remained resentful and angry about the hospital commitment and
the treatment he received there.
At one network meeting, the family’s longtime primary care physician attended for the
first time. He had remained both John’s (the father’s) doctor and his trusted ally, while
Sheila and Christopher no longer saw him as their doctor. Sheila, John, and
Christopher were all present at this meeting. The doctor said abruptly and
immediately at the beginning: “There are three things required in a situation like this:
medication, cognitive-behavioral therapy, and family therapy.” Christopher suddenly
became flushed, hunching his shoulders and looking distressed. The Open Dialogue
clinician knew that this young man had had an extremely negative experience with
medication while in the hospital and felt he was doing better without taking them. At
the same time, his parents were in tense disagreement about the issue of medication.
The clinician responded to the doctor by saying: “Can you tell me a little more about
how you reached this conclusion?” The doctor paused and reflected. He then
addressed the son, seeming to sense his discomfort: “I am sorry; I think I made a
mistake by starting with these three things.” Later in the meeting, the therapist
returned to the ideas of an individual cognitive-behavioral therapist and medication
and discussed these recommendations with everyone’s participation.
The reason the doctor’s recommendations were incompatible with a dialogical
approach is that he began the meeting from a monological position of top-down
expertise that generated discomfort, rather than one of collaborative listening that
allowed everyone to have a voice.
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B. Engage the Multiple Inner Polyphony, or Voices, of the Client
The therapist listens and engages the multiple views and voices of the client. These may be
possibly conflicting viewpoints or voices expressed by the same person. The above example
of the primary care physician is actually also an example of accessing an “inner polyphony.” At
first, the doctor spoke in his professional role as a knowledgeable expert, in which he
inadvertently produced a breach of empathy with Christopher. He then repaired the breach
by expressing his sensitivity to Christopher’s discomfort. In this way, the doctor himself spoke
in more than one voice: first, as an expert using general knowledge, and second, as an
empathetic clinician responding to the present interaction. This kind of movement is key to
Dialogic Practice.
While interviewing clients, dialogical therapists ask about absent members. This is another way
to evoke the expression of inner polyphony. A usual question is: “If X had been here, what
would they have said about the issues discussed?” This is an example of a hypothetical
question. The idea of such a question is for the client(s) to imagine a conversation with an
important and relevant person in their life who could not be present in the meeting. In this
way, the voices of important others becomes part of the outer conversation, and the client’s
inner dialogue becomes subject to new examination and reflection. At times, the question
itself provokes a spontaneous shift in a dilemma posed by a client in relation to an absent
other. A powerful example, which comes from the L. family, occurred not in the first meeting
but later on in the treatment process.
Case Example of Engaging Absent Members: the L. Family: Inner
Polyphony and Engaging Absent Members as Voices in the Inner
Dialogue
This example comes from the L. family described earlier: David, Tracy, and their son,
32-year-old Jack. During the course of treatment, Tracy died suddenly. David was
grieving and despondent. At the time of his deepest grief, he once questioned
whether Tracy might still be alive, if he had attended more to getting medical care for
her, rather than focusing so much on getting this new form of mental health
treatment for Jack.
In a meeting, Therapist 2 asked: “If Tracy were here now, what would she say about
the decision to devote your efforts to getting help for Jack?” David thought about it,
and said that Tracy was happy that they had spent the last year of her life going to
these meetings as a family. She told David that her oncologist had said that it was
likely she had actually lived longer to ensure that Jack was in a better place before she
left the world. Jack was present when David spoke about Tracy’s perception that Jack
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had been improving, had a future, and had likely helped to prolong Tracy’s life instead
of hastening her death.
7: Creating a Relational Focus in the Dialogue
While interviewing clients, dialogical therapists are interested in working with the themes and
issues within a relational frame. For instance, when a family member is angry and critical
toward a professional, it is not framed as manifestation of a “personality disorder,” but as their
response to an actual relationship and specific interaction with that professional, thus making
their anger one voice within a polyphonic conversation.
Relational questions are an offshoot of this relational way of thinking and are asked in order to
bring greater clarity to the situation. This can be achieved by, for example, asking questions
that address more than one person, define the relationships in the family, and express an
interest in the relational context of the problem or symptom. In the meeting with Jack’s family
previously discussed, one of the therapists asked Jack’s parents to define what percentage of
the time they spent caring for Jack as opposed to focusing on their own relationship and their
own lives. This question is relational in the sense that it draws several participants into a
discussion in which relationships can become more clearly defined and differentiated, instead
of more confused.
In Open Dialogue, there are many variations of relationally oriented questions that draw on
systemic, solution-focused, narrative, and psychodynamic styles of inquiry. For instance, we
can ask the kind of so-called “circular” questions that were first invented by the Milan systemic
team (Boscolo, Ceechin, Hoffman, & Penn, 1987). Such questions highlight a difference or
address relationships in the family. (For a more in-depth discussion of circular questions,
please see the Chapter X: Open Dialogue and Family Therapy).
In Open Dialogue, we do not ask these or any questions as part of a structured interviewing
methodology or a preplanned sequence of questions that will lead toward crafting an
intervention. Such structured methods tend to constitute monological sequences, rather than
dialogically structured interactions. Instead, in Dialogic Practice, questions are put forward as
responses that it is hoped, resonate with the unique opportunities within the conversation,
thus used in a creative, improvisational, and sparing way to open up new pathways for voice
and expression. We have coined the term “relational questioning” to signify this kind of
dialogical inquiry.
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Case Example of Using a Circular Question: the H. Family.
An example of the use of a circular question comes from a different family consisting
of two parents, Mike, a business executive, and Anna, a consultant with two children:
18-year-old Carla, and 16 year-old Joe. Carla was hospitalized after she confided to
her brother that a cricket was telling her to jump off the 3rd floor porch outside her
bedroom. The psychiatrist at the hospital told the family that their daughter had a
chemical imbalance in her brain. She was treated with high levels of medication. The
medication eradicated her “psychotic” voice, and Carla has continued to be under the
care of an outpatient psychiatrist. The maternal grandfather thought the family
should also pursue Open Dialogue therapy.
In this example, the therapists were meeting with the family for the second time. The
father began by bringing up the idea of a “chemical imbalance” and seemed to be
greatly irritated by having to participate in family meetings, especially ones that
seemed to be about “process” instead of “concrete steps.” After listening and
acknowledging the father’s point of view, the therapist asked the family a difference,
or circular, question about agreement versus disagreement, “Who else in the family
agrees with Father about the family meetings?” Joe said, “Well, there are other things I
could be doing.” Carla answered that she agreed that she had a chemical imbalance
and needed the medication, but thought the first family meeting made her “feel less
isolated.” The mother answered,
“I disagree with Mike. I think that when I think about all four of us together, I can
understand why Carla hears voices. I think her voices are a product of all of us
together … I can’t really explain it, but I think we need to meet as a family and
discuss whatever issues come up. There are a lot of things that we do not talk
about, that we should talk about, not only to help Carla, but all of us. Yes, that is
what I really think.”
Carla, who was sitting next to her mother, took her hand, linked her fingers inside her
mothers,’ and exchanged a smile. In this way, the question about the meeting itself
allowed the mother’s voice to be heard in a family where the father’s perspective,
aligned with the dominant psychiatric discourse, had become too important. The
relationship between the parents became more clearly defined when the conflict
between them became openly stated. In part because of this conversation, a
treatment team was formed in which a new psychiatrist regularly joined the family
meetings together with the Open Dialogue therapists. The family made good
progress with this arrangement, especially Carla, who began to recover. She returned
to school and began tapering off her regimen of psychotropic medications. After
approximately 18 months of meetings in this configuration, Carla’s parents asked to
do couple therapy instead. Carla continued seeing an individual therapist, while
moving forward with her own life, having her first boyfriend and returning to school.
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8. Responding to Problem Discourse or Behavior as Meaningful
There is an emphasis in Dialogic Practice on “normalizing discourse” in contrast to speaking
about issues as pathological, which often is where things start. The therapist listens for the
meaningful and “logical” aspects of each person’s response. What this means in practice is
that the therapist strives to comment and respond to what was said in a way that sees
symptoms or problem behavior as making sense, or “natural” responses to a difficult
situation. This shift to normalizing discourse affirms people by emphasizing how problem
behavior is meaningful within a particular context, rather than how it is “wrong” or “crazy.”
Normalizing talk has an affinity with the Milan systemic therapy technique of “positive or
logical connotation,” although the latter technique is given as an intervention in the form of an
explanation to the family. “Normalizing talk” is a much more subtle process of understanding
and responding woven into the conversational back-and-forth exchange. It also can occur by
means of locating unique outcomes, or exceptions, in “problem-saturated stories” (Olson,
2006; White, 2007). (Please also see Chapter X that compares Open Dialogue and family
therapy and further describes the differences between normalizing talk and family therapy
interventions such as “reframing” and “positive or logical connotation.”).
For instance, in the earlier excerpts of the L. family and the V. couple, a normalized discourse
replaced a pathological one in the collaborative emergence of meaning. The very first session
described above allowed a discourse to evolve that embedded the experience of Jack and his
family in a history of isolation and estrangement from their families of origin, a normalized
context in which their experience became more understandable. Similarly, in the session with
Margaret and Henry, Margaret’s symptoms became connected through the discourse to the
normalized context of a young couple being “between two families,” with a particular focus on
the loyalty bind of the husband in relation to his mother.
9. Emphasizing the Clients’ Own Words and Stories - Not Symptoms
Dialogic Practice invites the telling of what has happened in a person’s life, their experiences,
thoughts, and feelings, instead of reporting on symptoms. Telling stories may happen easily or
may require a more deliberate search for language. Openings in the form of one word or subsentences
may be key words with highly relevant associations to the problem situation. The
therapist zeroes in on these words that can give access to a narrative of a person’s suffering.
This is part of a larger process of evolving a common language, and larger story.
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In this way, severe symptoms may be understood as embodying inexpressible or unspeakable
dilemmas. They are often rooted in terrible, often traumatic, experiences that resist ordinary
language and the ordinary capacity to express experience in narrative terms. For instance,
hallucinations may be signs of such otherwise inexpressible experiences. The person who
exhibits the most severe symptoms may also have the least access to language. More time
may be devoted to exchanges with the most acutely symptomatic person whose voice may be
the most incoherent, and thus, the weakest. Further, in meetings that take place during crises,
the most difficult, and consequently the most important, issues are often indicated by a single,
key word a person says, rather than expressed as a full story. This type of one-word utterance
that may sound strange, may be repeated and turned over, slightly altered by the therapist
until a more mutual wording evolves. The aim is to arrive at shared understandings that give
voice to the person’s experience, making it more understandable and thus, fostering new
possibilities for everyone. This often means focusing on the small details of the person’s
description of what happened, or what actually happens in the room while the person is telling
their story.
Case Example of Emphasizing Stories, not Symptoms; the P. Family
This example comes from the work with 25-year-old Christopher. We described this
treatment earlier in relation to the network meeting with the family doctor.
Christopher had suffered an ongoing crisis for three years. The therapists were
meeting with his parents, John and Sheila, who were divorced, and Christopher, who
had a psychotic episode in college from which he had not fully recovered. He had
had trouble functioning since that time and had been living with his mother. Therapist
1 was joining this therapy as a consultant.
Therapist 1: So…. Where should we start? (Looking toward Christopher) I
understand that this is not your first meeting, but perhaps you can say something
for us. How do you understand what this is all about?
Christopher: Sure. Well, for about five years, five years ago, I have felt sort of
muddled in my head, um, just had thought that it was depression, um but, sort of
um, had trouble focusing, after I came back from a semester abroad in (a foreign
country), I was doing fine for my whole life, you know, before that, um, then I went
to my junior year abroad, fall semester junior year, fall semester, of college, I am
twenty-five, yeah, and I was in college for four years, um, after I came back I
started having trouble, some depression, just trouble focusing in class, and just
was unhappy generally, with my mental state, um, a lot of thoughts going around,
the best way I describe it was like, fuzzy, fuzzy thinking, so um, like, um, that has
been going on for the past five years, so um, yeah um…
Therapist 1: – You said that you were “unhappy”?
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Christopher: Yes, unhappy….
The therapist asked each of the parents how they understood the situation. They each
had different perspectives. (This is also an example of outer polyphony.) Mother
described how she lived with Christopher and observed his “fear” of life. Her
understanding was that the “code of silence” in their family when Christopher was
growing up had caused the current situation. By “code of silence,” she meant that the
problems in the family were rarely openly discussed. Father disagreed and said
instead that the problems Christopher had stemmed from his childhood difficulties,
including a longstanding problem with not being able to interpret “social
communication.” Christopher challenged his father’s point of view. The therapist
then returned to Christopher and asked him to say more about how he understood
his own situation. Christopher answered, “heartbrokenness.” “Heartbrokenness” was
Christopher’s word. The therapist repeated the word. The therapist’s response invited
Christopher to tell the story of having fallen in love with a girl while on a semester
abroad and having had to leave her to return to the US. He thought this experience
was the basis of everything else that had happened so that he had become, to use his
mother’s word, “paralyzed” in life. The separate voices and viewpoints of each of the
family participants remained polyphonically distinct in the discussion, nor was there
one perspective that the therapists explicitly privileged over another. That said, the
therapists nevertheless spent a great deal of the session helping Christopher to
expand the story of his “heartbrokenness.”
10. Conversation Among Professionals in the Treatment Meeting: The reflecting process,
making treatment decisions, and asking for feedback
In every meeting, the professionals’ conversation with each other should be emphasized.
When doing so, they are advised to look at and talk to each other and not at the family or any
other participant.
There are three parts to having a conversation in front of the family. The first two are
interchangeable; but the third one always comes after the professionals’ dialogue. First, there
is the reflecting process, in which the therapists engage in reflections that center upon their
own ideas/images/associations, with the client and family present. Second, the therapists
converse with the other professionals during the meeting on planning the treatment,
analyzing the problem, and openly discussing the recommendations for medication and
hospitalization. And, third, the family comments on the professionals’ talk. That is, after the
reflections, one of the therapists invites the family and other network members for their
responses to what they heard.
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A. & B. Reflections as Ideas/Images/Associations and Planning
“Reflecting talks” among professionals in a treatment meeting and in front of the family was
pioneered by Tom Andersen in (1991). Another version is the “reflective talk” of Seikkula &
Arnkil (2006). Both types of reflections are acceptable formats in Dialogic Practice during
team meetings. The reflecting process (or talk) occurs among the professionals in the
presence of the family. Andersen originally proposed well-defined alterations of talking and
listening in the therapeutic conversation with a “reflecting team” (usually 3 professionals)
sitting separately, though in the same room as the family, or behind a one-way screen.
Making this process more interspersed and spontaneous, Tom Andersen and the Finnish team
eventually started to apply the idea of the reflecting process in a less structured way as part of
the ongoing flow of the meeting.
As indicated, the talk among the professionals ranges from reflecting upon the ideas, images,
feelings, and associations that have arisen in their own minds and hearts while listening to
planning the treatment. The purpose is to create a place in the meeting where the therapists
can listen to themselves and thus have access to their own inner dialogues. It also allows the
clients’ to listen without being under pressure to respond to what the professionals are saying.
Following Tom Andersen (1991), the helpers use ordinary language, not jargon, and should be
speculative based on the themes introduced by the family. This is called “speaking as a listener
rather than as an author” (Lyotard, cited in Seikkula and Olson, 2003).
Case Example of Reflecting Conversation Among Professionals: the
L. Family
Returning once again to the first meeting with the L. family of David, Tracy, and Jack
described at the beginning, the professionals had a conversation in front of the family,
in which they first engaged in reflections and then discussed issues related to
treatment. Therapist 1 started the dialogue by asking the family, “Do you mind if I
have a word with my colleague?” The parents said they did not mind. Therapist 2
began by reflecting on what she heard and all the positive things the parents had said
about Jack and using their actual words: “sensitive,” “loving,” “bright,” “protective,”
and so forth. She also repeated fragments of the positive stories. Therapist 1 went on
to say that he liked how Jack had participated in the meeting, staying a bit on the
outside and listening. Therapist 1 went on to address the issues of treatment and
observed that the parents seemed “mixed” in terms of whether to try to find a
residential program for Jack or do Open Dialogue. This statement led to a longer
conversation between the therapists that straddled further reflection on the
relationships among the family members and practical decisions. Jack and his parents
decided they all would like to meet again with these therapists.
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C. The Family Comments on the Reflections
After the therapists give their reflections, the family should have a place to say what they think
about their discussion. Asking the family to comment on the professionals’ talk gives them a
voice in their own future. So Therapist 2 asked the L. family: “I am wondering if you have any
thoughts about our comments? What struck you? What did you agree with? Is there
anything you disagreed with?
Tracy responded by saying: “I think you hit the nail on head. Him (Jack), looking after us. I
didn’t realize we felt so positively about Jack. (Jack laughs). But, we do.” Jack and Tracy both
exchanged glances and laughed. David responded to the word “mixed” used previously by
Therapist 1, and discussed the various practical options with the therapists.
11. Being Transparent
All treatment talk is shared with all participants. Everyone in the network meeting is equally
privy to all discussions and information shared. This means that all discussion of
hospitalization, medication, and treatment alternatives occurs with everyone present. Often
transparency occurs as a feature of the reflections. As seen above in the session with the L.
family, the treatment decisions were initially addressed as part of the dialogue between the
therapists. For instance, as already indicated, the therapist reflected on what he saw as various
options in planning the treatment, making his ideas open for discussion, rather than giving an
expert recommendation.
Case Example of Transparency: the L. Family:
Therapist 1: “I had a kind of feeling that the parents [David and Tracy] are very mixed
in their position about what to do…mixed in the new ideas of coming here and
possibly having dialogical meetings and so on. At the same time, it is all a bit
uncertain. How much is this decision for the parents, how much is it a decision for
Jack himself to make, and how much is this question for the therapists or other
professionals to decide? So there seem to be big issues at the same time that
perhaps create a bit of confusion...
This comment, which also illustrates the last element of tolerating uncertainty, evoked
a response from the father that led to a clarifying discussion with the parents about
their position, which they defined as “not mixed.” Rather, both the parents and Jack
elected the option of having dialogical meetings and then explore the other
alternatives down the road.
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At the close of first and often subsequent meetings, dialogical therapists engage the
participants in planning the structure of the next meeting. There will usually be such openended
questions such as: Would you like to meet again? Do you have an idea when? Do you
know who might come next time? If the family seems hesitant, the therapists might ask,
“Would you prefer to think it over and call us? Of course, if the membership and frequency of
the meetings has become established, these questions may be unnecessary.
12. Tolerating Uncertainty
Tolerating uncertainty is one of the seven basic principles of Open Dialogue and one of the
key elements of Dialogic Practice. Tolerating uncertainty is at the heart of dialogue. It is thus a
specific element and an element that defines the other elements.
In Open Dialogue, there is the fundamental orientation of creating an organic understanding
of the crisis with everyone’s input (polyphony). This stance is based on the assumption, as well
as our experience, that every crisis has unique features. Hasty decisions and rapid conclusions
about the nature of the crisis, diagnosis, medication, and the organization of the therapy are
avoided. Further, we do not give ready-made solutions such as specific, preplanned
therapeutic interventions to the family or the single person in crisis.
The primary idea that professionals should keep in mind in crises is to behave in a way that
increases safety among the family and the rest of the social network. Among the specific
practices associated with this, it is important to make contact with each person early in the
meeting and thus, acknowledge and legitimize their participation. Such acknowledgment
reduces anxiety and increases connection and thus, a sense of safety. The availability of the
immediate meetings with the team and the frequency of meeting in a crisis also helps the
network tolerate the uncertainty of the crisis as the ensemble works toward their own shared
understanding of what is frightening and distressing people. Such shared understanding can
launch new forms of agency.
In the same spirit, the starting point of a dialogical meeting is that the perspective of every
participant is important and accepted without conditions. This means that the therapists
refrain from conveying any notion that our clients should think or feel other than they do. Nor
do we suggest that we know better than the speakers themselves what they mean by their
utterances. This therapeutic position forms a basic shift for many professionals, because we
are so accustomed to thinking that we should interpret the problem and come up with an
intervention that counteracts the symptoms by inducing change in the person or the family.
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Case Example of Tolerating Uncertainty
Helen, a 46 year-old woman, and her husband, Ben, began meeting with an Open
Dialogue team at their home during an acute crisis in which Helen was experiencing
her second psychotic episode. The team included a psychiatrist, a nurse, and a
therapist. In one of the meetings, Helen said:
”This has been very different compared to my first psychosis a year ago. Then we –
my family – met with a doctor whose main interest was interviewing my family
members about how crazy I was. As if I was not there. Now it’s completely
different. I am here and respected. I especially like it when the doctor speaks with
my husband and I realize how much my husband respects me.”
She had been hospitalized in a traditional psychiatric unit a year earlier. They had had
a family meeting at this hospital, but apparently the main purpose of the meeting was
to find the right diagnosis. The doctor’s questions were geared toward gathering
diagnostic information, rather than listening to her and making a connection. This
experience had been unsettling for the patient (“as if I not were there”). She
articulated the difference between what had happened before and the experience of
Open Dialogue. The prior psychiatric interview a year ago left her feeling without
power to define her own life and make her own treatment decisions. The more recent
dialogical meetings with the team allowed her voice to be heard and for her to feel
accepted.
On the other hand, the psychiatrist on the team who was new to this way of
working said that, at times, he was very uncertain about what-- if anything-- was
happening during this process. In this instance, it was the professional for whom the
uncertainty was most intense, because the treatment process no longer proceeded
according to concrete, planned steps that are prescribed and controlled mainly by the
expert.
If change does occur in the process of Open Dialogue, this may be attributed to the process of
engaging everyone’s point of view within the meeting. It is therapists’ responsibility to
conduct the meeting in a way that creates a space where it is safe for everyone to express
themselves, in the ways we have outlined above. Finally, the therapists do not simply facilitate
polyphony and erase their own voices. They also express their perspectives, but in the form of
reflections that they exchange in the presence of the family. Their ideas thus are “overheard”
and can be commented upon—and critiqued-- by the network, rather than being “truths”
directly imposed in a top-down fashion.
All in all, in a fruitful dialogue, clinicians participate in a human way with feeling and
compassion and fulfill their professional roles’ with an element of personal warmth. This
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promotes a therapeutic connection and avoids being too distant or giving clients the sense
that they are being scrutinized or objectified.
CONDUCTING THE TREATMENT MEETING: THE CONTEXT OF OPEN
DIALOGUE & DIALOGICAL PRACTICE
In Open Dialogue, the treatment meeting is the context for Dialogic Practice. A treatment
meeting should occur as an immediate response within 24-hours of the initial contact from
someone seeking help with a crisis. In advance of any decisions about hospitalization or
therapy, this meeting brings together the person in acute distress with all other important
persons, including other professionals, family members, and anyone else closely involved. It is
the responsibility of the professional who took the initial call to organize the meeting, with
input from the client(s).
The meeting occurs in an open forum with all participants sitting in a circle. The team
members who have initiated the meeting have the responsibility for fostering the dialogue.
The team may decide in advance who will conduct the interview and what role the rest of the
team will have. Usually if the team is experienced, they start with no prior plan regarding who
initiates the questions. All team members can participate in interviewing. The initial, “two
questions” referred to earlier invite the network to talk about the issues that are most pressing
for them at the present time. The team does not plan the themes of the meeting in advance.
From the very beginning the therapists listen carefully and elicit all voices, words, and stories
in the manner we have sketched in this document. If the person at the center of concern does
not want to participate in the meeting or suddenly runs out of the meeting room, a discussion
takes place with the family members about whether or not to continue the meeting. If the
family wants to continue, one of the clinicians informs the person that they can return if they
want to.
Everyone present has the right to comment whenever they want to. It is advisable that
everyone respect and address the ongoing topic of the dialogue, unless clearly proposing an
alternate. For the professionals, this means they can respond either by inquiring further about
the theme under discussion, or engaging in reflecting dialogue with one another, in which
they strive to be open and forthcoming. Therapists speak to –and look at--each other, use
ordinary, nonpathologizing language, avoid criticizing family members, and engage in a
dialogical exchange with one another. In every meeting, there should be at least some time for
the professionals’ reflections with each other, because this format is central to generating both
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new words for the crisis and an open and shared process that encourages a sense of trust and
safety. It is also essential that the network members have an opportunity to comment on
what the professionals have said.
Any decisions about medication and hospitalization are made with everyone’s input.
Discussion of issues related to medication and hospitalization usually occur after family
members have had a chance to express their most compelling concerns. After the important
issues for the meeting have been addressed, one of the team members usually makes the
suggestion that the meeting be adjourned. It is important, however, to close the meeting by
referring to the client's own words and by asking, for instance: “I wonder if we could take steps
to close the meeting. Before doing so, however, is there anything else we should discuss?” By
so doing, the clients have control over the decision to end the session. At the end of the
meeting, it is helpful to summarize briefly the themes of the meeting, especially whether or
not decisions have been made, and if so, what they were. It is also important to work out the
structure of the next meeting if the details are unclear, such as discussing who will attend and
when it should take place. The length of meetings can vary, but ninety minutes is usually
enough.
SUMMARY
Open Dialogue is both a community-based treatment system and a form of therapeutic
conversation that occurs within that system, specifically within the treatment meeting. These
two layers of Open Dialogue are guided by the seven principles, of which “dialogue
(polyphony)” and “tolerance of uncertainty” are the two fundamental coordinates of
therapeutic conversation, or Dialogic Practice. Dialogic Practice in Open Dialogue is the same
for both acute crises and more longstanding repetitive, so-called “chronic” situations.
This document has focused on defining Dialogic Practice by identifying and describing twelve,
key elements. In the treatment meeting, the principal aim is for the therapists to foster a
dialogue in which everyone’s voice is heard and respected. The starting point is the language
the family uses to describe their situation. The stance of the therapist is different from that of
traditional psychotherapy, in which the therapist makes the interventions and does not
disclose personal issues. While many family therapy schools concentrate on specific forms of
interviewing, the dialogical therapist focuses more on listening and responding to what has
touched them.
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It is in these moments of “aliveness” in Open Dialogue when a speaker or listener has been
touched by something new in the exchange that holds the possibility for transformation. In
the prior discussion, we have given examples of these “Striking Moments” (see also, Shotter &
Katz, 2007) For example, when Christopher used the word “heartbrokenness,” both he and the
therapists were visibly moved. Further inquiry yielded a profound shift of perspective afforded
by telling a story of what happened to him that placed his experience in a context. There can
be sudden revelations and positive movements toward self-healing and wholeness associated
with this process that can be profoundly connecting and astonishing. This transformative
possibility seems to rely on a therapeutic stance of remaining present and engaged, attuned
to ones’ own inner dialogue and sensitive to the outer, shared dialogue, responding utterance
by utterance as an exchange unfolds. For this reason, professionals hold their knowledge and
expertise lightly as part of their repertory of responsiveness. This “Striking Moments”
approach is contrasted by Roger Lowe (2005) to a “Structured Methods” approach, which
refers to those stepwise and unidirectional sequences guided by external theories and
hypotheses.
The Dialogic Practice of Open Dialogue emphasizes “being with” rather than “doing to.” There
is an open-ended inquiry that emphasizes the present moment. Clients’ words and stories are
felt to be precious and are carefully attended along with their silences and the whole gamut of
gestures, emotions and body-based utterances. The therapists’ respond to the clients’
expressions by repeating words and listening carefully and try to understand without imposing
their own overlay of jargon, interpretation, and hasty conclusions. If someone is difficult to
understand, there is an ongoing search for words to give more lucid expression to what they
might be trying to say. There is the assumption that the situation is meaningful and that
everyone is struggling to make sense of it. New, jointly produced possibilities emerge as new
words and stories enter the common discourse. The meeting creates a context for change by
generating exchange among the multiple voices all of which are valued and important.
Common language and understandings can help undo the tangle of the confusion and
ambiguity and produce a greater sense of orientation and agency.
A REQUEST FOR FEEDBACK FROM YOU THE READER
Of note, in order to continue to clarify, refine, and update the 12 key elements of fidelity to
Dialogic Practice discussed in this document, we encourage readers to provide feedback on
whether this text captures your experience of doing Open Dialogue and Dialogic Practice,
helps in reflecting on your work, is useful in training and supervision, and assists in doing
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research. We see this text as a living document. Future studies of the reliability and validity of
the “The Key Elements of Dialogic Practice in Open Dialogue: Fidelity Criteria” are needed and
forthcoming. Please email us and share your comments at: Dialogic.Practice@umassmed.edu.
Thanks – Mary, Jaakko, and Doug September 2, 2014
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We would like to express our gratitude to the families from whom we have learned so much.
We thank them for their permission to describe examples from our work together. We have
altered theses examples to protect confidentiality and remove any identifying information. We
also want to thank our colleagues for their invaluable feedback: Jukka Aaltonen, Volkmar
Aderhold, Magnus Hald, Lynn Hoffman, Peter Rober, Markku Sutela, and the UMass Medical
School research group, including Daniel Breuslin, Nancy Bryatt, Robert Clyman, Jon Delman,
Daniel Fisher, Christopher Gordon, Stephanie Rodrigues, and Makenzie Tonelli.
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