Date of Award
2008
Publication Type
Master Thesis
Degree Name
M.A.
Department
Psychology
Supervisor
Paivio, Sandra
Rights
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Abstract
The present study sought to test a theory that the quality of narratives written by adult survivors of childhood abuse would improve after undergoing Emotion Focused Therapy for Trauma (EFTT; Paivio et al., 2008), and that improvement in quality would be associated with trauma resolution. Pre- and post-therapy narratives of 37 subjects participating in EFTT were analyzed for incoherence, positive and negative emotion words, temporal orientation, and depth of experiencing. Results showed a significant increase in positive emotion words, present/future orientation, and depth of experiencing, but the improvement in quality was not associated with trauma-related therapy outcome. Pre-therapy negative emotion words and depth of experiencing were associated with degree of abuse resolution, and pre-therapy incoherence was associated with post-therapy PTSD symptoms. These results support a theory that unresolved trauma disrupts narrative quality, and further suggest that trauma narrative quality provides useful information about client capacity for change in EFTT.
Recommended Citation
Kunzle, Elisabeth, "Changes in narrative quality pre- and post-emotion focused therapy for childhood abuse trauma" (2008). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 8116.
https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/etd/8116