Working with Emotions in Existential–Humanistic Psychotherapy

Date of Award

8-24-2024

Document Type

Doctoral Research Paper

Degree Name

Psy.D.

Organizational Unit

Graduate School of Professional Psychology

First Advisor

Noelle Lefforge

Second Advisor

Carrie Landin

Third Advisor

Louis Hoffman

Keywords

Emotion, Emotional processing, Existential humanistic (EH), Psychotherapy

Abstract

Emotion is a central focus of psychotherapy and successful emotional processing has repeatedly been associated with positive treatment outcomes and change across therapeutic modalities; however, the controversy surrounding the definition, understanding, and place of emotion is as long as the history of the field itself. Furthermore, there has historically been a lack of research surrounding specific change processes, therapeutic factors, and therapist and client characteristics that contribute to working with emotions. In this chapter, we begin with a brief generalist overview of emotion before detailing an existential-humanistic understanding of emotion. In considering research on emotion, we focus on qualitative and quantitative research that supports the existential-humanistic approach to emotion in psychotherapy. As the understanding, expression, and valuing of emotion is strongly influenced by culture, we next give consideration to multicultural perspectives before concluding with consideration of future research needs.

Copyright Date

5-23-2024

Copyright Statement / License for Reuse

All Rights Reserved
All Rights Reserved.

Publication Statement

Copyright is held by the American Psychological Association. Permanently suppressed.

This dissertation was originally published as:

Varisco, B., & Hoffman, L. (in press). Working with emotions in existential humanistic psychotherapy. In L. Hoffman & V. Lac (Eds.), The evidence-based foundations of existential-humanistic psychotherapy. APA Books.

Rights Holder

American Psychological Association

Provenance

Received from author

File Format

application/pdf

Language

English (eng)

Extent

44 pgs

File Size

274 KB

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