10.26262/HJP.V18I2.8193
Mylona, Anna
Avdi, Evrinomy
ALLIANCE RUPTURES AND EMBODIED AROUSAL IN PSYCHODYNAMIC PSYCHOTHERAPY: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY
Hellenic Journal of Psychology
2021
Alliance ruptures; Autonomic nervous system; Embodied arousal; Psychodynamic psychotherapy
2021-04-14
2021-04-14
2021-07-23
2021-07-23
en
Article
46-1075-8193
226-248 Pages
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
This exploratory study aimed to deepen our understanding of relational and embodied processes implicated in psychotherapy, by examining the association of alliance ruptures with therapeutic dyad’s autonomic arousal during psychotherapy sessions. A central assumption of the study was that the therapeutic alliance is a core and dynamic aspect of therapy process, shaped by the mutual influence of therapist and client on both verbal/explicit and embodied/implicit levels. The research material consisted of 12 video-recorded sessions drawn from seven psychodynamic therapy cases; it included data regarding the activation of the autonomic nervous system, as reflected in the Absolute Stress Vector, an index derived from heart-rate measurements, and ruptures in the therapeutic alliance, as coded by the Rupture Resolution Rating System. A multilevel model (MLM) was applied to explore possible relationships between autonomic arousal and the specific type of rupture (no rupture, withdrawal, confrontation, mixed). The MLM showed that clients displayed higher autonomic arousal during periods of mixed ruptures compared to periods of no rupture, of confrontation and withdrawal rupture; and lower arousal during episodes of confrontation ruptures as compared to periods of no rupture. Based on this exploratory study, mixed ruptures seem to reflect a distinct pattern of disaffiliation in the therapeutic relationship and which merits further investigation in relation to its contribution to the therapy process.
Hellenic Journal of Psychology, Vol 18, No 2 (2021)