Power and knowledge in dyadic discursive therapy: Complexity and contradictions in Australian policy and practice

This research makes visible the ways power operates in the therapeutic interaction, to support and/or constrain the co-production of children’s knowledge regarding their mental health experiences. Enacting Fairclough’s (2003) Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and a Foucauldian conceptualisation of power (1991), a three-phase research program was designed. In phase one, mental health policy and discursive therapy texts from the macro-domain were investigated. In phase two, therapy transcripts drawn from the micro-context were analysed. Finally, in phase three, therapist interviews were also reviewed. The findings show the complexity and contradiction of competing discourses in the therapeutic encounter. This research makes a significant contribution to the child and youth mental health therapy field. Key practice implications point to the importance of a reflexive and deconstructive stance on the part of the therapist, to navigate the complex matrix of power relations in the therapy room