6.1. Case Example:
Michael: Working with Therapeutic
Tasks
Michael,
an African-American man in his forties, has come to therapy with concerns about
not being able to open up and become emotionally intimate in
relationships. He begins his fifth
session of therapy by expressing a vague sense of dread about his up-coming
divorce hearing. He says that he
isn’t sure what he is anxious about, but feels somehow uneasy. The therapist recognizes this as an
unclear felt sense, one of the markers for Experiential Focusing (see Chapter
9), so he proposes a Focusing task to Michael, who agrees that it might be
useful. The Focusing process helps
Michael clarify the nature of his concerns about being viewed as incompetent
and “stupid” by the judge. As he continues
to focus on this fear of being found wanting by others, a self-critical aspect
emerges, to which he reacts by defending himself against the imagined
criticisms. A self-criticism split
is thus apparent. Consequently,
the therapist proposes a change in task to Two Chair Dialogue. Michael agrees, reluctantly at first,
but soon warms to the process of internal dialogue, as an angry, rebellious
self-aspect emerges and turns the tables on the original critic. After various twists and turns, the
critical and rebellious aspects of Michael reach an understanding that the
criticisms had been intended to toughen Michael up, but have actually had the
opposite effect of making him feel weak and powerless.
Michael concludes the session by saying that he is amazed to
discover how much he has been tearing himself down. He resolves not to hold himself back in this way any
longer. He comes to the following
session saying that he is quite pleased with how he handled himself at the
divorce hearing, and that he has allowed himself to grieve briefly for his relationship
with his ex-wife and now feels ready to move on. He says that he feels more optimistic about his future than
he has in a long time, that he has decided to go back to school and change
careers -- and that he feels that he is finished with therapy. After recovering from his surprise
(clients aren’t supposed to change so quickly!), the therapist helps Michael
explore these changes and his new sense of direction and hope. They agree to meet in a month to see
how things were going for Michael.
At this follow-up session, Michael is continuing to build on the changes
he began in session 6, and shyly but happily tells the therapist that he has
started a new and more satisfying relationship with a woman.
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