A quest for self‐soothing: A systematic case study into emotion‐focused therapy with an emotionally avoidant client who committed sexual offenses
(2020) Journal of Clinical Psychology — Vol. 76, n° 4, p. 676-687 (2020)
Files
A_Quest_for_Self_Sooting_-_final_versionwithtitlepage1.pdf
Preprint
Open Access - Adobe PDF
- 217.22 KB
Details
- Authors
Gunst, Ellen 
- Abstract
- Objective: The current study is part of a multiple case study that investigated emotional change in individuals who have committed sexual offenses (ISOs). This case study highlights how one client used sex as maladaptive coping strategy in order to suppress negative emotions. Method: A mixed methods design was used to track changes in the client’s Affect Regulation (AR) during 4 phases, including a baseline (phase A), treatment as usual (phase B), treatment with an Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT) component added (phase C), and follow up (phase A). Results: The qualitative description with verbatim clinical vignettes, revealed deeper insight into some important steps and hindrances and the impact of specific EFT-interventions. Quantitative analysis of self-report and observational measures showed a significant improvement in the client’s AR across different phases of treatment. Conclusions: The study improves our knowledge of the emotional change in ISOs during treatment and illustrates some key interventions, steps, and hindrances.
- Affiliations
Citations
Gunst, E., Watson, J., Willemsen, J., Desmet, M., Loeys, T., & Vanhooren, S. (2020). A quest for self‐soothing: A systematic case study into emotion‐focused therapy with an emotionally avoidant client who committed sexual offenses. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 76(4), 676-687. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.22906 (Original work published 2020)