ABSTRACT

This chapter provides an overview of the "Dialogical Self" and the importance of Mikhail Bakhtin's analysis of linguistic style in the modern novel in his interpretation of dialogism. It examines some of the ways in which dialogical concepts derived from Bakhtin have been used in conjunction with different models of psychotherapy. The chapter compares dialogical approaches with other linguistic approaches to psychotherapy. In psychotherapy, Bakhtin has become associated with a concept of the self that is "dialogical" that consists of a number of different "voices" that speak to each other from different "positions" or points of view. Psychotherapists from several different orientations invoke the concept of the dialogical self and endeavour to identify and work with different "voices" in the client's discourse. Cognitive analytic therapy, a development in psychotherapy theory and practice, incorporates Object Relations theory into a structured, focused and relatively short-term therapy.