Dialogic Considerations of Confrontation as a Counseling Activity: An Examination of Allen Ivey's Use of Confronting as a Microskill

The authors examine confrontation as a communication skill practiced and described by counselor educator Allen Ivey. Seeing confrontation as a dialogic activity completed interactionally, they use conversation analysis to examine 2 passages where Ivey used confrontation in his teaching tapes. Their microanalyses highlight some important and largely unnoticed aspects of communication used in counseling skills such as confrontation. They conclude by discussing pedagogical implications they see following from their perspective and analyses.