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Public Conversations Project

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Couple and Family Therapy

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Name of Model

  • Public Conversations Project

  • Essential Partners

Introduction

The Public Conversations Project (PCP), founded in 1989, arose as an attempt to explore the possibility of expanding family therapy techniques from the therapy room into the larger context of difficult societal topic discussions outside of the therapy room. The underlying premise was that specific techniques employed in family therapy settings that were designed to decrease polarization in the family system could also be applied to macrosystemic public discussions around divisive topics that caused polarization (e.g., abortion). The founders when considering the core foundation for the PCP drew primarily from family theories and methods in clinical contexts designated to transform divisive interactional styles (e.g., engaging in yelling and shouting) into mutually respectful and constructive interactional styles (e.g., mutual understanding). Therefore, one key foundational aspect in the PCP was to move a...

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References

  • Becker, C., Chasin, L., Chasin, R., Herzig, M., & Roth, S. (1995). From stuck debate to new conversation on controversial issues. Journal of Feminist Family Therapy, 7(1), 143–163.

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  • Chasin, R., Herzig, M., Roth, S., Chasin, L., Becker, C., & Stains, R. R. (1996). From diatribe to dialogue on divisive public issues: Approaches drawn from family therapy. Mediation Quarterly, 13(4), 323–348.

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  • Herzig, M., & Chasin, M. (2005). Constructive conversations about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: A guide for convening and facilitating dialogue in Jewish communities in the USA. Watertown: Public Conversations Project.

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  • Littlejohn, S. W. (1997). Moral conflict: When social worlds collide. Thousand Oaks: Sage.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Northwestern University, The Family Institute, Evanston, IL, USA

    Dawn M. Wirick & Lee A. Teufel-Prida

Authors
  1. Dawn M. Wirick
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  2. Lee A. Teufel-Prida
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Dawn M. Wirick .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. The Family Institute at Northwestern, Evanston, IL, USA

    Jay Lebow

  2. The Family Institute at Northwestern, Evanston, IL, USA

    Anthony Chambers

  3. The Family Institute at Northwestern, Evanston, IL, USA

    Douglas C. Breunlin

Section Editor information

  1. The Family Institute at Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA

    Jay L. Lebow

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© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

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Wirick, D.M., Teufel-Prida, L.A. (2020). Public Conversations Project. In: Lebow, J., Chambers, A., Breunlin, D. (eds) Encyclopedia of Couple and Family Therapy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15877-8_1159-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15877-8_1159-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-15877-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-15877-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

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