Journal of Psychotherapy Integration, Vol 33(4), Dec 2023, 348-367; doi:10.1037/int0000307
Emotional processing has been proposed as a change mechanism in the context of personality pathology (PP). We start by providing a synthetic account of key developments in psychotherapy around experiential change, from both the experiential humanistic tradition and the experiential dynamic tradition. Some similarities between the two are presented in terms of (a) five general emotional change processes which help to define the associated emotional processing mechanism and (b) three relational arenas where experiential work is carried out. We then highlight a paradox of PP, which can both impel and interfere with emotional processing, as expressed in the dialectical tension between change and homeostasis. We interpret such conflicting self-strivings in terms of two self-organizations, one sustaining problematic habits of mind and another adaptive ones, and highlight them as potential targets of differential emotional processing, in an attempt to foster further habit-level change via state-level change. We present a three-dimensional matrix representing the first elements of a framework articulating the three in-session relational arenas used to facilitate emotional change processes in these self-organizations. We use it to review three clinical cases with PP informed by different experiential approaches. The framework proved to have heuristic transtheoretical value, illustrating emotional change processes and organizing the diversity of experiential work in the context of PP. We discuss the findings in the context of emotional processing as a change mechanism in PP, in particular, and in the context of the future of psychotherapy integration and research, in general. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)