This article traces its origin to 25 years of qualitative study of men’s violence towards women in close relationships. Major methodological concerns have involved finding ways to facilitate and support the research participants – women, men and children – in formulating themselves in as genuine and multifaceted a narrative as possible. Over the years, the approach ‘the teller-focused interview’ has emerged, with its theoretical and methodological base in feminist research, narrative theory and methodology, and a dialectical way of thinking about the relationship between interviewer and interviewee. It views them as partners with different tasks and responsibilities in the research process. This dialectic is referred to as a ‘relational practice’. It is argued that the methodological concerns brought up are not limited to the area of violence towards women but are also applicable in studies of various types of human experience that are complex, sensitive, and difficult to bring up. Indications for the use of the approach will be addressed, and basic aspects of the relational practice of tellerfocused interviewing will be presented. Some remarks on the relationship between qualitative research and psychotherapy will also be included.
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