Beyond Division: Convergences Between Postmodern Qualitative Research and Family Therapy

Starting from examples of postmodern research and therapeutic practice, we raise the question on the role of the research-therapy dichotomy within these approaches. The article aims to show the profound convergence between postmodern ethnographic research and constructionist, collaborative therapeutic approaches on a double, epistemological and practice level. First, we point out their converging development toward narrative and constructionist epistemologies. Second, an inquiry into the core features of these disciplinary activities' goal, process, and expert role reveals their profound convergence into a dialogical practice in which the boundaries between research and therapy are radically transgressed. We conclude by questioning the implications and acceptability of this convergence for researchers' and therapists' understanding of their practices.