Date of Award

2004

Publication Type

Master Thesis

Degree Name

M.A.

Department

Psychology

Keywords

Psychology, Clinical.

Supervisor

Paivio, Sandra,

Rights

info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess

Abstract

The term "experiencing" has been used to describe the quality of clients' engagement with their own internal experience (e.g., thoughts, feelings, images) during therapy. The present study investigated the relationship between depth of experiencing as a client characteristic and outcomes in Emotion-Focused Therapy for Adult Survivors of Child Abuse (EFT-AS). The study utilized archival data (audiotaped treatment sessions and self-report outcome measures) collected from 37 EFT-AS clients, who were dealing with issues of past emotional, physical, or sexual childhood abuse (Paivio & Nieuwenhuis, 2001). Clients' depth of experiencing was rated early in the therapy process during clients' discussion of core issues related to past abuse. Selected segments were transcribed and then rated using the Experiencing Scale (EXP; Klein, Mathieu-Coughlan, & Kiesler, 1986). A series of hierarchical multiple regressions were used to determine whether deeper levels of experiencing, early in therapy, predicted therapeutic outcomes. The results revealed that modal EXP ratings independently contributed to less symptomatology, reduced trauma symptoms, reduced interpersonal problems, and improved resolution of abuse issues. Peak EXP ratings did not significantly predict therapeutic outcomes. Together, the results suggest that experiencing can be used as a prognostic measure in EFT-AS and that maintaining a high EXP level seems to be more important to therapeutic outcomes than briefly attaining a high EXP level.Dept. of Psychology. Paper copy at Leddy Library: Theses & Major Papers - Basement, West Bldg. / Call Number: Thesis2004 .R62. Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 43-05, page: 1819. Adviser: Sandra Paivio. Thesis (M.A.)--University of Windsor (Canada), 2004.

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