The assimilation model suggests progress in psychotherapy follows an eight-stage sequence described by the Assimilation of Problematic Experiences Scale (APES). This study sought to reconcile this developmental stage model with the common but superficially contradictory clinical observation that therapeutic advances alternate with setbacks. Setbacks (n=466) were identified in therapy transcripts of two clients and classified using a preliminary nine-category list of possible alternative reasons for setbacks. Most of the setbacks involved switches among the multiple strands of a problem due to (a) therapists exceeding clients' therapeutic zone of proximal development, (b) therapists guiding clients to shift toward relatively problematic material (balance metaphor), or (c) spontaneous switches. Rather than contradicting the theory, this close examination of setbacks yielded elaborations of it.

The assimilation model proposes eight stages through which patients with problematic experiences pass during assimilation, ranging from suppression or dissociation to mastery. These are summarized in the Assimilation of Problematic Experiences Scale (APES). The assimilation model and the APES have been developed through intensive qualitative study of significant therapeutic events. This article describes the process of assimilation of the problematic experiences of dizziness in a patient, María, treated with linguistic therapy of evaluation. All treatment sessions were analyzed with the goals of describing the process of assimilation and connecting this process with the therapeutic change. The results showed that the assimilation process includes setbacks within a general pattern of progress through the APES stages. The process of assimilation was associated with the changes in María's life.

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As in previously studied therapies, setbacks in EFT, usually represent productive work on relatively less advanced strands of the client's major problems. Results point to the importance of the therapist attending to the limits of the client's therapeutic ZPD.

The Assimilation of Problematic Experiences Scale (APES) summarizes a developmental continuum along which psychological problems progress in successful psychotherapy. The therapeutic zone of proximal development (TZPD) is the segment of the APES continuum within which the clients can proceed from their current APES level to the next with the therapist's assistance. It is the therapeutic working zone for a particular problem. As the client makes progress on a problem, its TZPD shifts up the APES. Theoretically, so long as the therapist's interventions remain within the TZPD, the client feels safe enough to work. However, when an intervention aims beyond the upper limit, the client will find it too risky and will reject or avoid the proposal. In this sense, exceeding the TZPD can be considered as a clinical error. This article presents examples of exceeding the TZPD and ways the error can be repaired. (PsycINFO Database Record

The Assimilation of Problematic Experiences Scale (APES) and the Innovative Moments Coding System were applied to transcripts of a successful case of linguistic therapy of evaluation independently by different research groups. Assimilation theory and research suggest that higher APES scores reflect therapeutic gains, with a level of approximately 4.0 separating good from poor outcome cases. The innovative moments (IMs) model suggests that IMs classified as reconceptualization and performing change occur mainly in good outcome cases, whereas action, reflection and protest occur in both good and poor outcome cases. Passages coded as reconceptualization and performing change were rare in this case, but 100% of them were rated at or above APES 4. By contrast, 63% passages coded as action, reflection or protest were rated below APES 4 (Chi-square = 28.62, p < .001). Implications for research are discussed.

Nota: As passagens podem ser classificadas em estádios intermédios, por exemplo: 2.5 significa que o cliente está precisamente entre a consciência vaga e a compreensão.

Nota: As passagens podem ser classificadas em estádios intermédios, por exemplo: 2.5 significa que o cliente está precisamente entre a consciência vaga e a compreensão.