Abstract
Therapists need a novel approach with externalizing, hard-to-reach patients, who blame others for their problems and feel empty. In this article a technique is presented for treatment of such clients. It specifically involves helping such individuals to experience their affect initially in therapy. This method assists clients in becoming aware of their visceral sensations, which are the manifestations of emotions. Learning to monitor their physical reactions is a lengthy process with externalizers, but once they master doing this and reach a level of awareness of them, they start to experience their feelings and they begin having insights. This eventually leads to self-observation and understanding. A case example using this method is presented in the article. It illustrates how a specific patient moved from feeling empty and blaming others for all his problems to first recognizing his sensations, then to become aware of his feelings and finally starting to reach an understanding of himself.
Published Version
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