CD Moves

In the values and principles section, the important contribution that Rogerian ideas make to CD procedures was explained. Edge also acknowledges the influence of Egan (1986) in the specific moves described below.

CD aims to enable a distinct discourse. It is consciously very different from everyday conversation or academic debate and exchange. It is not proposed as necessarily better than exchange, debate or argument. However, because it is an alternative form of discourse, it does have specific moves which can help maintain focus on the Speaker's ideas.

If the Understanders can make appropriate CD moves, it lets the Speaker know that Understanders are interested, that they are not making judgements, either positive or negative, and that they are putting their energies into understanding as fully as possible.

In the 1992 version of CD, Edge proposed 9 facilative moves.

Exploration

• Attending
• Reflecting
• Focusing

Discovery

• Thematising
• Challenging
• Disclosing

Action

• Goal-setting
• Trialling
• Planning

A full description, exploratory tasks and examples of these moves can be accessed from the links above.

If you feel that you would like to try CD, you have a choice. You could either work through some of the tasks and practice activities in the links above. An alternative would to jump in at the deep end and use the materials for follow-up discussion as you go along.

The most important of the moves to get right is Reflection, Mann (2002) [link], on the basis of the analysis of two years of CD meetings, found that Reflecting was the 'core' move in establishing successful CD interaction. Not only is this the key move in its own right but an element of Reflection is facilitative in other moves.

Other outcomes of this longtitudinal study into CD use found that:

• sessions often begin with an 'early Reflect' which has the role of making the Speaker feel listened to and establishing a focus for the session.
• there was little evidence that 'Challenging' was used and it may be better to combine 'Thematising' and 'Challenging' in one move, 'Relating'.

The typical reaction for a Speaker trying CD for the first time is an initial feeling of discomfort (speaking about ideas in rough form). However, this feeling quickly gives way to a very positive feeling of being listened to and understood.

In the early stages of establishing CD discourse, in addition to 'Attending', the following should be sufficient:

Reflecting

Trying to say back a version or part of what the Speaker has just said. This both helps the Understander to show that they understand the Speaker's ideas and also allows the Speaker a chance to hear a version of their account coming back.

Focusing

Here the Understander picks out one element of what the Speaker has said and offers it back to the Speaker. An example of this might be if the Understander says "you said ......... would you like to say any more about that?" This can be particularly useful early in a session.

Relating

Here the Understander picks out two or more elements of what the Speaker has been saying and offers the speaker the chance to articulate their relationship. An example of this would be if the Understander says " you have talked about ..(A)...... and .....(B).... , do you see a connection between them/do you want to say more about how they fit together?"