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Kailanko S, Wiebe SA, Tasca GA, et al. Impact of repeating somatic cues on the depth of experiencing for withdrawers and pursuers in emotionally focused couple therapy. J Marital Fam Ther. 2021;doi: 10.1111/jmft.12544.
Kailanko, S., Wiebe, S. A., Tasca, G. A., & Laitila, A. A. (2021). Impact of repeating somatic cues on the depth of experiencing for withdrawers and pursuers in emotionally focused couple therapy. Journal of marital and family therapy, . https://doi.org/10.1111/jmft.12544
Kailanko, Sari, et al. "Impact of repeating somatic cues on the depth of experiencing for withdrawers and pursuers in emotionally focused couple therapy." Journal of marital and family therapy vol. (2021). doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/jmft.12544
Kailanko S, Wiebe SA, Tasca GA, Laitila AA. Impact of repeating somatic cues on the depth of experiencing for withdrawers and pursuers in emotionally focused couple therapy. J Marital Fam Ther. 2021 Aug 01; doi: 10.1111/jmft.12544. Epub 2021 Aug 01. PMID: 34333810.
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J Marital Fam Ther. 2021 Aug 01; doi: 10.1111/jmft.12544. Epub 2021 Aug 01.

Impact of repeating somatic cues on the depth of experiencing for withdrawers and pursuers in emotionally focused couple therapy.

Journal of marital and family therapy

Sari Kailanko, Stephanie A Wiebe, Giorgio A Tasca, Aarno A Laitila

Affiliations

  1. University of Jyväskylä, Finland.
  2. University of Saint Paul, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
  3. University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

PMID: 34333810 DOI: 10.1111/jmft.12544

Abstract

Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy, an experiential modality, views emotion central to therapeutic change. In this exploratory study, we examined therapists' repetition of somatically focused interventions (therapist verbalizing somatic cues, such as facial expressions) and their impact on clients' emotional experiencing in-session. We also assessed difference for withdrawing versus pursuing partners. The sample included 13 EFT therapists who worked with one couple each for a single session. From transcripts we coded therapists' repetition of somatically focused interventions and clients' depth of experiencing pre-and post-intervention. Multilevel modeling demonstrated that a higher number of repetitions of somatically focused interventions predicted greater increase in depth of experiencing, unlike length of time spent repeating interventions. Somatically focused interventions resulted in greater increase in depth of experiencing for withdrawing as compared to pursuing partners. The results of this exploratory study suggest that such interventions may be a specific technique of EFT therapists that enhances emotional experiencing especially among withdrawing partners.

© 2021 The Authors. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy.

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