title: Task analysis exemplified: the process of resolving unfinished business.
abstract: The steps of a task-analytic research program designed to identify the in-session performances involved in resolving lingering bad feelings toward a significant other are described. A rational-empirical methodology of repeatedly cycling between rational conjecture and empirical observations is demonstrated as a method of developing an intervention manual and the components of client processes of resolution. A refined model of the change process developed by these procedures is validated by comparing 11 successful and 11 unsuccessful performances. Four performance components-intense expression of feeling, expression of need, shift in representation of other, and self-validation or understanding of the other-were found to discriminate between resolution and nonresolution performances. These components were measured on 4 process measures: the Structural Analysis of Social Behavior, the Experiencing Scale, the Client's Emotional Arousal Scale, and a need scale.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, York University, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: L S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Greenberg
authors.forename: F S
authors.initials: FS
authors.lastname: Foerster
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005864:Gestalt Therapy / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D008370:Manuals as Topic; D010552:Personality Assessment; D011613:Psychotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D012919:Social Behavior; D016896:Treatment Outcome