Emotional availability in psychotherapy: The usefulness and validity of the Emotional Availability Scales for analyzing the psychotherapeutic relationship

Abstract

The aim of this study was to assess whether a modified version of the Emotional Availability Scales (EAS), created to assess interaction quality between parents and children, could be applied to psychotherapy sessions and whether emotional availability (EA), as assessed by the modified EAS-T, was associated with client- and therapist-rated working alliance. EAS-T was used to assess 42 sessions from 16 therapies. The therapies came from the LURIPP project, comparing IPT with BRT for depressed clients. The results showed that sessions could be reliably rated with EAS-T. Most rating scales had acceptable variance. The client's perception of task alliance was associated with several of the EA subscales (sensitivity, nonhostility, responsiveness) assessed over therapies, whereas the perception of bond was associated with Structure on EAS.

Emotional availability: theory, research, and intervention

“…Emotional availability encompasses more than parent–child relationships. For example, a group in Sweden is investigating the therapist-client relationship in terms of EA ( Söderberg et al, 2013 ). Other studies are examining EA in romantic couples (e.g., Derr-Moore, 2015 ).…”

The Alliance and Rupture Observation Scale (AROS): Development and validation of an alliance and rupture measure for repeated observations within psychotherapy sessions

“…Biringen () argued that the principles of emotional availability could be applied to different kinds of relationships. The original Emotional Availability Scales (EAS) manual, for caregiver and child, was modified to rate the relationship between therapist and client in the therapy version (Söderberg, Elfors, Larsson, Falkenström, & Holmqvist, ). The original EAS had been used in several studies, and there was much support for the scales’ reliability and validity (Oppenheim, ).…”

Assessing emotional aspects of midwives’ intrapartum care: Development of the emotional availability and responsiveness in intrapartum care scale

“…The only measure that assesses provider emotional availability and responsiveness in provider-patient interactions was developed in the field of psychotherapy (Soderberg et al, 2013). Soderberg et al, (2013) modified the original EAS to assess psychotherapist's emotional availability.…”

“…The only measure that assesses provider emotional availability and responsiveness in provider-patient interactions was developed in the field of psychotherapy (Soderberg et al, 2013). Soderberg et al, (2013) modified the original EAS to assess psychotherapist's emotional availability. Scores are associated with the quality of the therapeutic relationship, which in psychotherapy is strongly associated with therapy outcome (Martin et al, 2000).…”

“…Scores are associated with the quality of the therapeutic relationship, which in psychotherapy is strongly associated with therapy outcome (Martin et al, 2000). Clients of therapists who scored high on the EAS overall were more satisfied with their relationship with their therapist (Soderberg et al, 2013).…”