The birth of a clinical dialogue: a rhizomatic-narrative analysis into stories of the body told by trainee counselling psychologists in the UK

The body in psychotherapy has consistently made an appearance in theories of psychological development, psychopathology, and intervention. Less has been written about the therapist’s body, however, there is an emerging evidence-base highlighting its potential role in the therapeutic process. Most of this research has focused on experienced practitioners, leaving the trainee body unexplored. This study seeks to address this gap by tuning into stories of the body as told by eight trainee counselling psychologists in the UK. Participants took part in semi-structured interviews, which were then transcribed and analysed using the rhizomatic-narrative approach. This combines Deleuze and Guattari’s ontology of becoming with an established narrative method known as the Listening Guide. Three plots were identified, inluding ‘becoming connected’ (i.e. stories about developing of a sense of connection to the body), ‘becoming relational’ (i.e. stories about the body when entering the clinic), and ‘becoming silent’ (i.e. stories about sharing experiences of the body in spaces connected to the clinic). Each plot was dramatised by its own complex polyphony of voices providing a window into the beginnings of a clinical dialogue involving the body. The findings suggest that, from a narrative perspective, trainee bodily becoming was characterised by clusters of voices which were context-dependent. The body was a kind of polyvocality, open to being listened to as an evolving network of voices. The implications are that connection to the body could be fostered through an active listening process. This could both enhance bodily awareness and encourage self-reflective practice. This approach could be used in contexts of trainee learning such as supervision, reflective groups, or clinical practice, as a way of providing an additional dimension to trainees’ use of self