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

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.