title: Affect integration and reflective function: clarification of central conceptual issues.
abstract: The importance of affect regulation, modulation or integration for higher-order reflection and adequate functioning is increasingly emphasized across different therapeutic approaches and theories of change. These processes are probably central to any psychotherapeutic endeavor, whether explicitly conceptualized or not, and in recent years a number of therapeutic approaches have been developed that explicitly target them as a primary area of change. However, there still is important lack of clarity in the field regarding the understanding and operationalization of affect integration, particularly when it comes to specifying underlying mechanisms, the significance of different affect states, and the establishment of operational criteria for measurement. The conceptual relationship between affect integration and reflective function thus remains ambiguous. The present article addresses these topics, indicating ways in which a more complex and exhaustive understanding of integration of affect, cognition and behavior can be attained.
authors.affiliation: University of Oslo, Department of Psychology , Postboks 1094 Blindern, 0317 Oslo, Oslo, 0317, Norway. o.a.solbakken@psykologi.uio.no
authors.forename: Ole André
authors.initials: OA
authors.lastname: Solbakken
authors.forename: Roger Sandvik
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Hansen
authors.forename: Jon Trygve
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Monsen
mesh_terms: D000339:Affect; D003071:Cognition; D003243:Consciousness; D056348:Emotional Intelligence; D006801:Humans; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009042:Motivation; D013811:Psychotherapeutic Processes; D011613:Psychotherapy / Q000379:methods; D017603:Signal Detection, Psychological; D056345:Theory of Mind