Clients' Emotional Experiences Tied to Therapist-Led (but Not Client-Led) Physiological Synchrony during Imagery Rescripting.

Jessica Prinz,Jana Wasserheß,Wolfgang Lutz,Eshkol Rafaeli

doi:10.3390/e23121556

Jessica Prinz, Jana Wasserheß + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/e23121556

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Abstract

Imagery rescripting (IR), an effective intervention technique, may achieve its benefits through various change mechanisms. Previous work has indicated that client–therapist physiological synchrony during IR may serve as one such mechanism. The present work explores the possibility that therapist-led vs. client-led synchrony may be differentially tied to clients’ emotional experiences in therapy. The analyses were conducted with data taken from an open trial of a brief protocol for treating test anxiety (86 IR sessions from 50 client–therapist dyads). Physiological synchrony in electrodermal activity was indexed using two cross-correlation functions per session: once for client leading and again for therapist leading (in both cases, with lags up to 10 s). The clients’ and therapists’ in-session emotions were assessed with the Profile of Mood States. Actor–partner interdependence models showed that certain client (but not therapist) in-session emotions, namely higher contentment and lower anxiety and depression, were tied to therapist-led (but not client-led) physiological synchrony. The results suggest that therapist-led synchrony (i.e., clients’ arousal tracking therapists’ earlier arousal) is tied to more positive and less negative emotional experiences for clients.

Highlights

Over the past two decades, psychotherapy researchers have demonstrated that imagery-based techniques are a very effective means of intervention for various disorders [1]
Much of the work on imagery-based techniques has centered on imagery with rescripting (i.e., imagery rescripting (IR)), an approach which was originally developed for work with clients who had undergone traumatic experiences (e.g., [3,4])
The results from the three actor–partner interdependence models (APIMs) analyses predicting positive emotions showed that only therapist-led synchrony was associated with clients’ emotional experience, significantly so for contentment and marginally for vigor and calmness

Summary

Introduction

Over the past two decades, psychotherapy researchers have demonstrated that imagery-based techniques are a very effective means of intervention for various disorders [1]. Much of the work on imagery-based techniques has centered on imagery with rescripting (i.e., imagery rescripting (IR)), an approach which was originally developed for work with clients who had undergone traumatic experiences (e.g., [3,4]). The reactivated experience is “rescripted” (i.e., changed in the imagination in a positive, desired direction) so that the unmet needs of the vulnerable or traumatized self are satisfied, at least in part. The client is asked to imagine the scene from the perspective of their present self and step into the image to do whatever is necessary to satisfy the needs of their vulnerable selves [6,7,8]

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