Forgiveness and Reconciliation in Emotionally Focused Therapy for Couples: The Client Change Process and Therapist Interventions

This article presents psychotherapy process research findings related to the forgiveness and reconciliation model, known as the Attachment Injury Resolution Model (AIRM), within the context of emotionally focused therapy for couples (EFT). Outcomes for EFT as an intervention for general relationship...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of marital and family therapy 2013-04, Vol.39 (2), p.148-162
Main Authors: Zuccarini, Dino, Johnson, Susan M., Dalgleish, Tracy L., Makinen, Judy A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Attachment
Attachment Behavior
Behavior
Emotional Experience
Emotional Response
Emotionally focused
Emotions
Feedback (Response)
Forgiveness
Gender
Injuries
Interventions
Modeling (Psychology)
Psychological Patterns
Psychotherapy
Reconciliation
Resistance (Psychology)
Studies
Task analysis
Therapy
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Summary:This article presents psychotherapy process research findings related to the forgiveness and reconciliation model, known as the Attachment Injury Resolution Model (AIRM), within the context of emotionally focused therapy for couples (EFT). Outcomes for EFT as an intervention for general relationship distress and AIRM have been successfully tested. Audiotapes of nine resolved and nine nonresolved EFT couple cases were used to study the client change process, the validity of AIRM, and EFT interventions used at each stage of the model. Study findings suggest resolved couple clients engaged deeply with their internal experience were more deliberate and controlled in their processing and more affiliative in their interpersonal responses in comparison with nonresolved couples. Resolved versus nonresolved client in‐session performances were discriminated on the basis of four model components. These were associated with significant shifts from secondary reactive emotions to primary attachment–related emotional processing of the injurious incident and with interactions that focus on shaping emotional responsiveness. Key EFT interventions employed in successful attachment injury resolution are also identified.
ISSN:0194-472X
1752-0606
DOI:10.1111/j.1752-0606.2012.00287.x