Affective Change in Psychodynamic Psychotherapy: Theoretical Models and Clinical Approaches to Changing Emotions.
OBJECTIVE
Affective change has been considered the hallmark of therapeutic change in psychoanalysis. Psychoanalytic writers have begun to incorporate theoretically the advanced understanding of emotional processing and transformation of the affective neurosciences. We ask if this theoretical advancement is reflected in treatment techniques addressing the processing of emotion.


METHODS
We review psychoanalytic models and treatment recommendations of maladaptive affect processing in the light of a neuroscientifically informed model of achieving psychotherapeutic change by activation and reconsolidation of emotional memory.


RESULTS
Emotions tend to be treated as other mental contents, resulting in a lack of specific psychodynamic techniques to work with emotions. Manualized technical modifications addressing affect regulation have been successfully tested in patients with personality pathology, but not for psychodynamic treatments of axis I disorders.


CONCLUSIONS
Emotional memories need to be activated in order to be modified, therefore, we propose to include techniques into psychodynamic therapy that stimulate emotional experience.
Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy Universal Medical Center of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz Zahlbacher Str. 8 55131 Mainz Germany https://www.unimedizin-mainz.de/psychosomatik/startseite/startseite.html.
Claudia
C
Subic-Wrana
Department of Psychology Emotion-focused Clinic York University 4700 Keele Street Toronto, ON M3J 1P3 Canada http://www.emotionfocusedclinic.org/
Leslie S
LS
Greenberg
Department of Psychiatry College of Medicine of the University of Arizona Banner - University Medical Center Tucson Campus 1501 N Campbell Ave Tucson, AZ 85724 USA http://medicine.arizona.edu/
Richard D
RD
Lane
Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy Universal Medical Center of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz Zahlbacher Str. 8 55131 Mainz Germany https://www.unimedizin-mainz.de/psychosomatik/startseite/startseite.html.
Matthias
M
Michal
Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy Universal Medical Center of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz Zahlbacher Str. 8 55131 Mainz Germany https://www.unimedizin-mainz.de/psychosomatik/startseite/startseite.html.
Jörg
J
Wiltink
Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy Universal Medical Center of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz Zahlbacher Str. 8 55131 Mainz Germany https://www.unimedizin-mainz.de/psychosomatik/startseite/startseite.html.
Manfred E
ME
Beutel
D000339:Affect; D001143:Arousal; D001364:Awareness; D000066498:Emotional Adjustment; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011939:Mental Recall; D008960:Models, Psychological; D011574:Psychoanalytic Theory; D064889:Psychotherapy, Psychodynamic; D055815:Young Adult
Emotion Focused Psychotherapy (EFT); Emotional Activation; Emotional Memory; Levels of Emotional Awareness (LEA); Psychodynamic Psychotherapy