ABSTRACT
One of the first empirical quantitative analyses of power in marriage and family therapy investigated interruptions, which were viewed as a sign of conversational power. That study reported that women clients were interrupted three times more often than men cli-5 ents regardless of therapist gender (Werner-Wilson et al., 1997). The study published in 1997 included only student therapists so the findings could have been the result of limited professional training because therapist inexperience seems to be associated with a more direc-10 tive interviewing style (Auerbach & Johnson, 1978). The present study represents a replication of the 1997 study with a sample of therapists that includes some who have significantly more experience, so interruptions could be compared between student therapists and15 those identified by the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy as “master” therapists. This present study was influenced by two themes: language and therapeutic discourse as well as the feminist critique of marriage and family therapy.20
