4.3: Micro-Process
Markers Outline for Process-Experiential Case Formulation
I. Micro-markers: Specific indicators of client
moment-to-moment experiencing, for example:
A. Verbal
1.
Content (including subtle nuance)
2.
Poignancy (use own emotional response to client content)
3.
Rehearsed descriptions
4.
Rambling
B. Nonverbal (including vocal)
1. Nonverbal behavior (especially nervous movements of hands,
feet; facial expression)
2.
Vocal quality (focused, emotional, externalizing, limited)
3.
Client in-session hesitation or inhibition
4. Incongruent expression
II. Markers of characteristic style reveal important aspects of how clients
treat themselves or others, including attachment
histories.
1.
Hostile, critical vs. caring, supportive
2.
Controlling, involved vs. permissive, allowing
III. Modes of engagement markers indicate client's style of emotional
processing, including distance from experiencing and manner in which client is
engaged or disengaged.
A. Nonexperiential:
1. Purely external: attending to other people, external
events, problem-solutions
2. Purely conceptual: formulating things in linguistic or
abstract terms without reference to concrete experiencing
3.
Purely somatic: attending to chronic pain or illness signs
B. Experiential: Productive process-experiential work
1. Internal attending: turning attention inward, being
aware of feelings, meanings
2. Experiential search: examining internal experience with
curiosity; tolerating vague or ambiguous experiencing
3. Active expression: displaying or enacting strong, vivid,
specific reactions
4.
Interpersonal contact: trusting, opening up to therapist
C. Post-processing: Carrying therapeutic work forward
1. Self-reflection: Standing back from experience in order
to develop meaning perspective
2. Action-focus: Problem-solving, solution-oriented toward
developing productive action
IV. Task markers identify particular cognitive-affective
problems (e.g., conflict splits problematic reactions; see Chapter 5)
V. Treatment foci: The client’s main therapeutic issues
Materials designed to
accompany the book Learning Emotion-Focused Therapy: The
Process-Experiential Approach to Change from APA Books.
©2003 Robert Elliott, Jeanne Watson, Rhonda Goldman, and Leslie Greenberg
http://www.process-experiential.org/learning