Narrative Transformations and Externalizing Talk in a Reflecting Team Consultation

This article reports on a therapeutic consultation session following the reflecting team working format. A stanza form of transcription of the original video recording is used to present the narrative constructions of the consultation process, and the transformation of these constructions. This method of transcription and analysis seeks to convey to the reader the dynamics of tellings and reformulations of the client's problem story as they emerged in the conversational exchanges between consultant and client, and between the members of the reflecting team. The creation and use of an externalized fictive agent in the conversation is shown. This externalizing talk served to afford new agentic positions for the client in relation to her presented problem of ‘ineffectiveness’, and to recast the moral ordering of the problem story. This case study attempts to offer the reader space for reflection on innovative working formats, the change process in therapeutic consultation, and the relationship between practice and research.