I recently went to a workshop led by Diana Forsha who has developed a model of doing psychotherapy which combines a psychodynamic approach with attachment theory and cognitive-behavioral approaches. Her approach is called AEDP (Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy) I was drawn to it because of her eclectic approach, her emphasis on creating a strong and respectful bond between the client and the therapist and her emphasis on bringing out our natural wish to heal. I was trained in my early years in a psychoanalytic model which I feel is primarily what I call a problem-saturated way of perceiving human behavior. I appreciate AEDP’s focus on bringing out the positive ways of thinking about ourselves.
In the workshop, Diana Forsha presented live video tapes of her work. There was a distinct emphasis on working with the client’s feelings and emotionality. The privileging of the affective experience as a vehicle towards change, is though, only one way to alter our ways of being. I have also experienced working with clients who have greater access to their thinking selves, rather than their feeling selves, and I have seen significant changes occur because we connected to each other, and established a strong bond through thinking together, rather than feeling together.
I maintain that it is helpful to hold a differentiated way of working with each individual client.