Turning processes : the change of representations in consultee-centered case consultation

Abstract: This thesis explores sudden changes in consultee-centered case consultation. Grounded theory has been used as research method and the description and interpretation of the method is an integrated part of the thesis. Data have been collected from focus group interviews with consultants, inventories, taped consultation sessions and interviews with consultants and consultees. Consultees are teachers in Swedish child care, pre-school and school settings who tum to psychological consultants, for problems with children.Three types of sudden changes were originally identified - tumings, tuming points and shifts. The first part of the study explores the tuming of the consultee's representation of her interaction to the client. Five kinds of tumings are described and related to the way the consultee has approached or moved away from the client. The second part of the study explores the interaction between the consultee and the consultant and describes how the process oscillates back and forth between three interaction modes - discharge-confirrn, display-concem and discover-challenge. It was discovered that, although consultants and consultees readily talk about tuming points, these are difficult to identify and should rather be described as tuming processes. The third part of the study explores how the consultation process starts to move again through sudden shifts after having been stuck. Sudden shifts are qualitative changes characterized by increased or decreased affective arousal.The result of this study is a conceptualization of tuming processes in consultee-centered case consultation. Consultation is seen as a process oscillating between approaching and moving away from the originally presented problem rather than as a specific set of stages. When the process is not moving it will become stuck. The consultant's interaction varies between the interaction modes from being non-directive following the consultee to being directive and in charge of the process, however never prescriptive. Not only the consultee's presentation and representation of the interaction to the client change but also the consultant 's presentation and representation.