What am I seen – who do I seem? Hidden discursive processes in the large group of a TC

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of the paper is to present a possible way of discourse analysis of the meaning giving processes in a therapeutic community (TC).

Design/methodology/approach

Presentation of a research project, which aim is to analyse the attitudes towards the large group within the TC, is based on analysing the conceptual metaphors in semi-structured interviews.

Findings

The findings delineate a possible discourse, namely, the TC’s hidden discourse of working through the mirror-transference at the community level.

Practical implications

The paper proposes a possible content analysis method for better understanding the deep processes of the TC by examining the large group.

Social implications

The paper emphasizes the matrix of a TC as a mentalizing scene.

Originality/value

The use of linguistic methods in understanding the hidden community level mentalizing processes.

Citation

Zalka, Z. (2021), "What am I seen – who do I seem? Hidden discursive processes in the large group of a TC", Therapeutic Communities: The International Journal of Therapeutic Communities, Vol. 42 No. 2, pp. 98-108. https://doi.org/10.1108/TC-01-2021-0001