Examining Discourse When Talking with Women— Shona Russell

This paper discusses the ongoing responsibility we have as therapists for opening spaces to examine cultural and social conditions that can easily remain invisible.

The author asks: ‘How can I step outside my own ideology and question it’, and ‘What steps can I take to expand the range of discourses which are brought into therapeutic conversations?’ A postmodern feminist orientation is discussed as a way to examine and explore the dominant discourses which are powerfully shaping of identity. Through the story of Rosanna’s life we see how these explorations are linked with re-authoring conversations.