Case formulation in emotion‐focused therapy

Abstract

Case formulation in emotion-focused therapy aids therapists to both conceptualize core emotion schemes and follow markers across therapy that signify tasks aimed at emotional transformation. The case formulation process will be illustrated in the successful case of Jina, a woman with a history of childhood emotional abuse who sought therapy for depression. The three stages of case formulation are co-constructed between client and therapist. In stage one, the therapist assesses her initial emotion processing style and listens as the emotion-based narrative unfolds. In stage two, the core emotion scheme and formulation narrative organize around feelings of shame of inferiority and attachment-related feelings of being rejected and unloved. Attendant secondary emotions of powerlessness, and unmet needs for validation emerge.Stage three evolves as the therapist follows process markers, prompting chair work for both unfinished business and self-criticism, ultimately helping Jina access adaptive sadness and newly experienced self-compassion.

Emotion-Focused Couple Therapy: A Review of Theory and Practice

“…Although the importance of creating new cognitive meanings or behavioral changes in the EFCT process is not denied, the importance of recognizing, accepting and understanding emotions draws attention (Greenberg 2017). Emotions, which significantly affect the perceptions of the relationship, can be handled in different ways in the process, depending on which emotion is expressed and how these emotions are interpreted for both the individual and the couple (Goldman andGreenberg 2013, Gurman andFraenkel 2002). Sometimes the therapist focuses on simulacrums and somatic experiences by heightening emotions in therapy.…”

“…The change that provides a healthy structuring is the awareness of primary emotions and their expression. In such a situation, the emotion-focused couple therapist aims to help couples realize that secondary or instrumental emotions are the structure that serves to into negative interaction cycles (Goldman andGreenberg 2013, Zwack andGreenberg 2020).…”

“…Emotion-focused therapists utilize a set of change-based principles specifically designed to address and treat a variety of issues within an empathetic relational framework. The first principle in case formulation is that a healthy relationship is possible in the context of an emotion-focused therapeutic relationship that emphasizes an empathetic, collaborative alliance (Goldman 2017, Goldman andGoldstein 2022). In general, case formulation relies on two sources of information about clients.…”

“…Throughout the case formulation process, the therapist and client continually drill down to explore feelings about these stories. In order to change the emotional functioning, it is aimed to recreate the life stories told by the clients in a different way than they are now (Goldman 2017).…”

“…For this, the first thing to do is to mark the most touching points in the clients' stories in their minds (Greenberg and Goldman 2007). The chronic pain of the client is, in a sense, the entry point to the client's core concerns (Goldman 2017). Painful events provide clues as to the source of basic maladaptive emotion schemas that clients may have formed about themselves and others.…”