Dialogic and co-creative practices are approaches that emphasize collaboration, shared understanding, and the inclusion of multiple perspectives in addressing complex issues. These practices are rooted in the idea that reality is socially constructed through dialogue. These practices are at the root of Open Dialogue philosophy and practice.
Core Principles:
Collaboration: Dialogic and co-creative practices prioritize working with people rather than doing to them. This involves engaging clients, families, and communities in the process of understanding and resolving challenges.
Dialogue: Genuine dialogue is central, emphasizing open and respectful communication where all voices are valued. The goal is to create a space where people can explore their experiences, challenge assumptions, and co-create new meanings.
Social Construction: These approaches acknowledge that human understanding is shaped by social interactions and cultural contexts. They move away from the idea of a single, objective truth and embrace multiple perspectives.
Emphasis on Lived Experience: The experiences of service users and their networks are considered central to the process of understanding and creating solutions.
Not-knowing Stance: Practitioners adopt a stance of curiosity and learning, recognizing that clients are the experts in their own lives.
Flexibility: These practices are adaptable and responsive to the unique needs and contexts of the people involved.
Focus on Relationships: Relationships are seen as the foundation for change and healing The focus is on building trust, connection, and mutual understanding.
Overall, dialogic and co-creative practices offer a paradigm shift from expert-driven approaches to collaborative, person-centered, and relational ways of working that prioritize mutual understanding and shared decision-making.
What is Open Dialogue?
Open Dialogue is a values and principle led approach to the delivery of care. As a form of dialogic and collaborative practice, it takes a philosophical and ethical stance to the way therapeutic conversations are conducted, and care systems are organised. It is a postmodernist approach that recognizes that human reality is created through social construction and dialogue.
Open Dialogue emphasizes open communication and collaborative decision-making among individuals, families, and healthcare professionals. In Open Dialogue, professionals transition from being experts to collaborative “non-experts.” Their role is to listen, facilitate, and actively engage in dialogue in meetings, balancing moments of silence and caution with meaningful contributions. Mutual trust among team members creates a safe and supportive environment for the person and their networks.
Although originally developed for the treatment of psychosis, Open Dialogue has evolved into a versatile approach applicable to diverse mental health and crisis situations. Open Dialogue offers practices and values that can inform human rights based approaches to therapy, mental health, health and social care practice and organisations. Beyond healthcare, its principles are increasingly applied in organizational management, enabling shared decision-making and inclusive cultures.
Key Components of Open Dialogue
Human Rights Perspective: Interactions are guided by equality and respect, with a focus on promoting dignity, inclusivity, and human rights.
Dialogue and Polyphony: Genuine dialogue invites all voices to be heard, emphasizing collaboration in treatment decisions. All the feelings and perspectives are honoured, fostering an inclusive atmosphere.
Family- and Network-Orientation: Families and other relational networks are integral to the care process. From the outset, they are engaged as valuable resources, contributing security, understanding, and relational strength.
Tolerance of Uncertainty: Professionals embrace uncertainty as an opportunity to deepen understanding and insight into the nature of crises, avoiding premature assumptions and fostering trust in the dialogic process.
Reflection: In network meetings, team members openly share their impressions and thoughts in the presence of the person and their networks, promoting transparency and shared understanding.
Transparency: Decisions are co-created with the person, working towards openness and ethical clarity throughout, even in times of complexity or crisis.
Continuity of care: A consistent, multidisciplinary team works with the client from start to finish, building trust and fostering stability.
Collaboration: Shared responsibility across systems encourages cohesive and integrated care delivery.
Immediate Help: In times of crisis, care is accessible without formal referrals, ensuring timely support and avoiding unnecessary delays.
What is Open Dialogue Training?
Three Year Open Dialogue Training
Rooted in the success of treatment outcomes in Western Lapland, where recovery rates for first-episode psychosis have been remarkably high, the original Three Year Training program evolved as an in-house course focusing on family therapy and Open Dialogue practices. This training included key modules in theory, clinical supervision, and group psychotherapy, providing participants with a deep understanding of the principles and their practical applications, and is considered the gold standard in Open Dialogue Training.
A central aspect of Open Dialogue training is the exploration of dialogic and relational realities. Participants are encouraged to delve into how meaning-making occurs in relational contexts—within families, networks, and broader societal structures. By engaging in dialogue and examining these interconnected dynamics, practitioners gain a deeper understanding of how relationships shape experiences and influence both challenges and solutions. This dialogic exploration fosters greater sensitivity to the unique relational fabric of each person’s life, enabling practitioners to respond with authenticity and care.
Throughout the training, participants engage in a collaborative learning environment that emphasizes dialogue, pluralism, and inclusivity. By studying and practicing the seven main principles of Open Dialogue—such as immediate help, tolerance of uncertainty, and transparency—they build the skills necessary to create spaces where all voices can be heard and valued.
Open Dialogue & Dialogic training is not only about building competencies but also a process of personal and professional transformation. It is about fostering a mindset that prioritizes relational understanding, shared decision-making, and human rights, and that can be applied across contexts (individual, group, family therapy and care or community supports).
Open Dialogue Training equips practitioners to contribute and practice, therapeutically and organisationally in ways that are humane, responsive, and grounded in the lived realities of individuals, families, and communities. This training represents an ongoing commitment to learning and growth, both individually and collectively, in the pursuit of better and more human care provision.
Open Dialogue Training: Foundation Year
Current Open Dialogue training often begins with Foundation Training, a one-year program designed to introduce participants to the model’s core principles and practices and to facilitate participation in Open Dialogue services. Participants learn how to facilitate network meetings, organize mental health services, and explore diverse worldviews about the nature of human suffering and its implications for mental health care. Ultimately, the training aims to empower participants to drive impactful, sustainable change in the practices and relationships of their contexts and communities.
Application for our Open Dialogue Foundation training is now open: Find out more
Open Dialogue Trainers Training
Training as a trainer in Open Dialogue requires a large number of practice and supervision/training hours and specific supervision and theory input regarding dialogical approaches to education, training and supervision . Accreditation requires a formal project that demonstrates your theoretical approach to the training and supervision work.