Psychology Commons^™

A Genuine Artifice, A Specific Vagueness: Psychotherapy, Performance, And The Practitioner, Chris M. Defossez

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The following is a literature review and research project aimed at examining the performative choices psychologists make when interacting with their patients. The goal for this research is to begin to understand the “essence” of a psychologist‘s experience as they present themselves in their work. Drawing from published literature on the therapeutic alliance, social constructionism, postmodern feminism, art, and aesthetics, the author argues that the therapeutic frame taken by a particular therapist can be understood as a performative act. This author examines the implications of this idea and what can be learned from conceptualizing the therapeutic alliance through a performative …