‘Is it all right if I make a suggestion?’: permission requests in social services’ online chat counselling

In this article, we explore permission requests to provide guidance in the specific context of social services’ online chat counselling. Asking permission to communicate information or advice as a conversational practice is commonly associated with motivational interviewing (MI), which has become increasingly popular in various social work contexts. The MI literature is ambiguous regarding how and in which cases the practice of asking permission is appropriate. We use the approach of conversation analysis to examine in detail how the practice is used by social workers to identify its interactional functions. We also discuss to what extent the practice aligns with MI intentions when used in online social work.