Centre for Rural and Remote Area Health

The aim of this presentation is to extend our consideration of evidence-based practice in psychology. To date the focus of evidence-based practice has been to make clinical treatments more accountable (Levant, 2005). But, similarly, evidence-based practice can be applied to make the practices of psychologists in teaching, research, and non-clinical settings accountable. However it is not immediately obvious how to begin this move. It becomes clearer by broadening the range of evidence being considered for eliciting best practice. Say, in contrast to elevating the status of particular individuals as teaching, research, or consulting experts. This focuses on the evidence of practice rather than assigning authority to exemplary individuals. This can be accomplished by collecting naturalistic data and using it to display normative and exceptional practices. Conversation analysis provides a methodology and discursive psychology offers a conceptual framework for eliciting best practices. This is a starting point because discourse is central to teaching, research, and consulting activities in psychology. Data from two cases – an extract from a semi-structured research interview and an extract from a first consultation between a psychologist-client will be used to illustrate this