https://doi.org/10.4081/ripppo.2020.440
Episodes of meeting in psychotherapy: An empirical exploration of patients’ experiences of subjective change during their psychotherapy process
Submitted: November 8, 2019
Accepted: April 2, 2020
Published: May 21, 2020
Accepted: April 2, 2020
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All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
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This study aims to assess moments of meeting in psychotherapy -understood as moments of intense connectedness and intimacy, shared between patient and therapist during any therapeutic encounter that enable a spin in the therapy process- using a qualitative interview with patients who were undergoing or had finished psychological treatment. Micro-pehenomenological interviews were conducted with nine patients who were undergoing or had finished psychological treatment. Transcriptions of the interviews were subject to micro-phenomenological analysis. A general structure of episodes of meeting showing their temporal evolution was identified and divided into six consecutive phases. These findings suggest that episodes of meeting in psychotherapy are lived and remembered by patients in a significant way; they are emotionally charged and have a meaning for each participant. Also, emotional and nonverbal cues seem to be highly relevant features. Moments of meeting could be understood as implicit mechanisms that allow changes in the implicit relational domain.
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How to Cite
Duarte, J., Martinez, C., & Tomicic, A. (2020). Episodes of meeting in psychotherapy: An empirical exploration of patients’ experiences of subjective change during their psychotherapy process. Research in Psychotherapy: Psychopathology, Process and Outcome, 23(1). https://doi.org/10.4081/ripppo.2020.440
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