Dynamic emotional processing in experiential therapy: Two steps forward, one step back.

Abstract

The study of dynamic and nonlinear change has been a valuable development in psychotherapy process research. However, little advancement has been made in describing how moment-by-moment affective processes contribute to larger units of change. The purpose of this study was to examine observable moment-by-moment sequences in emotional processing as they occurred within productive sessions of experiential therapy. This article further tested A. Pascual-Leone and L. S. Greenberg's (2007) model of emotional processing through a reanalysis of their data sample of 34 sessions in which clients presented with global distress: 17 that ended in poor in-session events and 17 that ended in good in-session events. Current analyses used univariate and bootstrapping statistical methods to examine how dynamic temporal patterns in clients' emotion accumulated moment-by-moment to produce in-session gains in emotional processing. Results show that effective emotional processing was simultaneously associated with steady improvement according to the model as well as increased emotional range. Consequentially, good events were shown to occur in a 2-steps-forward, 1-step-back fashion. Finally, good events were also shown to have progressively shortened emotional collapses, whereas the opposite was true for poor in-session events.