“You Feel They Have a Heart and Are Not Afraid to Show It”: Exploring How Clients Experience the Therapeutic Relationship in Emotion-Focused Therapy

Nødtvedt, Øystein Ottesen; Binder, Per‐Einar; Stige, Signe Hjelen; Schanche, Elisabeth; Stiegler, Jan Reidar; Hjeltnes, Aslak

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01996

Cited by 8 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…Nonetheless, it was helpful and considered as a relief. These findings are also in line with those of previous qualitative research on EFT, such as Lafrance et al (2014b) , Stiegler et al (2018) , and Nødtvedt et al (2019) , indicating how the establishment of trust is an important precondition when working with painful emotions and that participation in such interventions is related to increased awareness of agency. Moreover, the presented findings are in line with previous qualitative research on EFFT, indicating the link between increased understanding and the acceptance of parents’ own and their child’s emotions ( Bøyum and Stige, 2017 ; Foroughe, 2018 ).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Parenthood—Lost and Found: Exploring Parents’ Experiences of Receiving a Program in Emotion Focused Skills Training

et al. 2021

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BackgroundParents play a crucial role in the development, maintenance, and deterioration of child difficulties. Emotion focused skills training (EFST) targets parents’ capacity to provide their child with emotion-oriented skills in order to promote good child mental health. Few qualitative studies have specifically investigated parents’ experiences of receiving such programs.ObjectiveThis study aimed to explore how parents experience working with their own and their child’s emotions undergoing a short-term program in EFST; in particular, changes in their experience of being a parent and in everyday life are reported.MethodSemi-structured in-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with 14 parents who had completed a short-term EFST program (2-day group training and 6 h of supervision). Interview transcripts were analyzed using a reflexive thematic analysis approach.ResultsA total of 14 parents (40% men, four couples, Mage = 39.5, SD = 4.4) participated in the study. Our analysis resulted in the following three themes: (1) “Coming home” as a parent, with the following subthemes: (a) New ways of being with their child and (b) Parents’ painful inner world; (2) Reclaiming parenthood—applying new tools and learning in challenging situations; and (3) This is us—changing the heart of the story. The first theme was related to the descriptions of the changes that emerged in parents’ inner lives, the second revolved around the employment of their skills intuitively and creatively based on what was required by the challenging situations, and the third theme referred to new discoveries on family dynamics.ConclusionParents’ experiences of having wisdom and calmness inside them (being) and doing parenting differently, as well as the changed perspectives of the family (living), resonate with the theoretical ground of emotion-focused therapy (EFT). The findings also indicate that therapists should be aware of potential parental distress when working in view of changing unpleasant emotions in such skill-based programs.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Parenthood—Lost and Found: Exploring Parents’ Experiences of Receiving a Program in Emotion Focused Skills Training

et al. 2021

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“…Their characteristics are presented in Table 1. One study was published in the form of two papers (Elliott, 2013; MacLeod et al, 2012), while another study was published in the form of three papers (Nødtvedt et al, 2019; Stiegler et al, 2018; Stige et al, 2021). In both cases, the studies had different foci and contained different data.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…All 11 studies examined clients' experiences of helpful aspects of EFT, while seven studies featured difficult but helpful aspects of EFT (Angus & Kagan, 2013; Elliott, 2013; Hibbs et al, 2020; Nødtvedt et al, 2019/ Stiegler et al, 2018/Stige et al, 2021; O'Connell Kent et al, 2020; Steinmann et al, 2017; Timulak et al, 2017), and six studies featured experiences of unhelpful aspects of EFT (Hibbs et al, 2020; MacLeod et al, 2012; Nødtvedt et al, 2019; O'Connell Kent et al, 2020; Steinmann et al, 2017; Stiegler et al, 2018; Stige et al, 2021; Timulak et al, 2017).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…One client said of her therapist, “He was with me, when you are kind of on the other side of the bridge. He gave much support as to the reality of [my difficulties] and how understandable they were” (Nødtvedt et al, 2019; p. 6).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This meta‐category was based on findings reported in five out of 11 meta‐analysed studies and referred to the clients' experiences of having their experiences explicitly accepted and validated by the therapist. One client expressed that his therapist “helped me to confirm to myself that I am allowed to be myself, and that I am not supposed to be self‐critical and put myself down, but feel good inside” (Nødtvedt et al, 2019; p. 6).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A qualitative meta‐analysis of the clients' experiences of emotion‐focused therapy

Marren

Mikoška

O’Brien

et al. 2022

Clin Psychology and Psychoth

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Objective Client experience of psychotherapy is an important resource for our understanding of psychotherapy and deserves relevant attention in psychotherapy research. Emotion‐focused therapy (EFT) is a relatively new adaptation of a humanistic therapy that has a tradition of giving a voice to the clients in therapy. Despite the number of qualitative studies looking at the experience of clients in EFT, there was no formal qualitative meta‐analysis conducted synthesizing the existing qualitative research on the clients' experience of EFT. Method A sample of 11 primary qualitative studies was selected through a systematic search of the literature. Primary studies were critically appraised, and data (findings) from them extracted and meta‐analysed. Results All 11 studies featured experiences of helpful aspects of therapy, with difficult but helpful aspects reported in seven studies and unhelpful aspects reported in six studies. Most studies reported chair and experiential work and intense emotional work in EFT as helpful, with fewer reports and fewer clients finding them difficult but helpful or unhelpful. The multidimensional nature of the therapist and therapeutic relationship in EFT included emotional connection and support, validation and understanding and was commonly experienced as helpful to clients. Other client experiences reported included practical aspects of EFT such as session length, in‐session outcomes such as clients' transformative experiences, and internal and external factors which were experienced by clients such as determination or reluctance to commit to therapy. Conclusions Most clients experience EFT as an intense, challenging, but productive psychotherapy, but it appears a minority of clients experience aspects of EFT as challenging.

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The effect of the two‐chair dialogue intervention on self‐compassion ‐ adding an emotional evocative component to a basic Rogerian condition

Stiegler

Vildalen

Heggem³

et al. 2022

Couns and Psychother Res

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Objective How people relate to themselves when facing distress or failure influences general psychological well‐being and vulnerability to psychological disorders. The aim of the present study was to explore the effect of an emotionally evocative intervention on self‐compassion. Methods The data were retrieved from a larger study of Emotion‐Focused Therapy (EFT) utilising a multiple baseline design comparing two treatment phases. The baseline phase consisted of 5, 7 or 9 therapy sessions where the therapist solely adhered to Rogerian relational conditions, as prescribed in EFT. A two‐chair dialogue intervention was then added for five sessions. The sample consisted of 18 self‐critical clients with clinically significant symptoms of depression and/or anxiety. The “Self‐Compassion Scale” (SCS) was administered pre, mid and post therapy. Results The baseline phase did not lead to significant changes in self‐compassion. However, the addition of the two‐chair dialogue was associated with a significant increase in self‐compassion. This increase was due to reductions in the negative subscales, especially the isolation subscale. Conclusion The emotionally evocative two‐chair dialogue was associated with a significant change in self‐to‐self relating, compared to relational conditions alone. The two‐chair dialogue, thus, seems to be a promising intervention for promoting healthier self‐to‐self relating.

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“You Feel They Have a Heart and Are Not Afraid to Show It”: Exploring How Clients Experience the Therapeutic Relationship in Emotion-Focused Therapy

Cited by 8 publications

References 48 publications

Parenthood—Lost and Found: Exploring Parents’ Experiences of Receiving a Program in Emotion Focused Skills Training

Parenthood—Lost and Found: Exploring Parents’ Experiences of Receiving a Program in Emotion Focused Skills Training

A qualitative meta‐analysis of the clients' experiences of emotion‐focused therapy

The effect of the two‐chair dialogue intervention on self‐compassion ‐ adding an emotional evocative component to a basic Rogerian condition

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