Abstract
This chapter discusses an application of Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) to the discipline of psychotherapy, in particular to the Conversational Model of psychotherapy as it is used in the treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder (Stevenson and meares, 1992). SFL and the Conversational Model have compatible approaches to self in that they both regard self as a construction of meaning, so that the meanings we make by wordings become a reliable index of evaluating the emergence and maintenance of self. The opportunity for a conversation between SFL and the Conversational Model is enhanced by their shared theoretical interests in language, society, and consciousnous. For example, they both refer to Trevarthen's work (1979) in child language development and Vygotsky's descriptions of social language (1962).
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Thresholds and Potentialities of Systemic Functional Linguistics: Multilingual, Multimodal and Other Specialised Discourses |
| Editors | Elizabeth Swain |
| Place of Publication | Italy |
| Publisher | Edizioni Universita di Trieste |
| Pages | 229-267 |
| Number of pages | 39 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9788883032752 |
| Publication status | Published - 2010 |