Voices in between: Cultural interchange in dynamic psychotherapy

Abstract

Psychoanalytic Practice can be understood in the Discursive Genre, in which the dialogical language represents the psychotherapeutic practice. The utterances of the patient and the therapist can be conzeptualized as a system of “inner” and “outer” voices, which represent transference. In relation to the dialogical self framework of Hubert Hermans which focuses on the interplay of voices and I-positions we concentrate here on the borders of “inner” and “outer” voice systems of DS through a look at transference and countertransference processes, well known from the psychoanalytic theories of Sigmund Freud. Three levels of operation of the DS are analyzed—conscious, preconscious, and unconscious. Voices operating at preconscious and unconscious levels lead to an understanding of consciousness through therapy considered through the DS framework. Understanding the importance of unconscious and preconscious “inner” and “outer” voices might be one leading step into direction of consciousness by passing decisions of dominance, ambivalence, and development in psychotherapy to offer high levels of self-reflection on patients and their mental health.