Moments of change: Clients’ immediate experiences when sharing emotions in psychotherapy

Abstract

Objective: In-session processing of emotions is important in facilitating psychotherapeutic change. This study explores how clients in active treatment experience inner changes when sharing emotions in psychotherapy sessions. The aim was to retrieve in-depth knowledge about clients’ moment-by-moment experiences of change in a naturalistic psychotherapy context. Method: Two psychotherapy sessions (session 3 or 4 and session 7 or 8) were videotaped and immediately followed by semi-structured interviews with clients (n = 11) in the format of Interpersonal Process Recall (IPR). Interviews were analysed using thematic analysis. Results: Four themes resulted from analysis: (1) reaching a new clarity about inner struggles; (2) a shift in how I approach and experience my feelings; (3) grieving losses and gaining a more positive understanding of myself; (4) feeling relief and liberation when allowing difficult emotions. Conclusion: The resulting themes took into account the importance of the felt quality of change experiences within sessions, which appears to be important in making micro-processes of change salient. Across themes, we found accounts of shifts in awareness and self-compassion, which we discuss as micro-outcomes that clients can ideally be guided to dwell with.