Talking with a Map: A Cognitive Analytic Approach to Everyday Conversational Awareness

Talking with a Map explores the interplay between how we talk and how we relate. We learn to relate before we learn to talk, and every conversation depends on making sense of our interactions as much as our language. Conversation has the potential to bring us a deeper and clearer perspective, but we are also capable of getting lost or into a mess. Tackling this and offering a means to improve conversational skill for those who depend on it (e.g. teachers, nurses, managers) as well as anyone seeking the courage, compassion, and curiosity to have better conversations and relationships, Talking with a Map presents a series of simple steps for making word maps of discussions as they develop. These maps track the hidden patterns in what we say and how we relate to each other while speaking, making visible the links and gaps in our discussions and helping us to achieve a shared understanding of conversations.

Steve Potter is a psychotherapist who teaches and supervises Cognitive Analytic Therapy (CAT) and its application to reflective practice in the UK and internationally. His central interest is in the co-creative process of relational mapping, and how it allows us to see and say things that otherwise might be too complex to hold in mind. He is co-editor of the International Journal of Cognitive Analytic Therapy and Relational Mental Health.