TY  - JOUR
AU  - Bell, Tobyn
AU  - Montague, Jane
AU  - Elander, James
AU  - Pugh, Matthew
AU  - Gilbert, Paul
PY  - 2023
DA  - 2023/09/19
TI  - Bringing the Inside Out and the Outside in: The Therapeutic Relationship in Compassion Focused Therapy Chairwork
JO  - OBM Integrative and Complementary Medicine
SP  - 037
VL  - 08
IS  - 03
AB  - Chairwork is a central component in Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT). Despite its importance, there has been no prior research on the relational factors underpinning the application of chairwork in CFT. There is also a general paucity of research on the role of the therapeutic relationship in chairwork across modalities. This paper analyses data from interviews with 21 clients following a CFT chairwork intervention to ascertain how relational factors influenced their experience of this method. An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) found three main themes: 1) direction and coaching during enactment; 2) externalisation: bringing the inside out and outside in; 3) regulation and trust: the relational requirements to ‘let go’. The implications of these findings, both for the delivery and training of chairwork, are then discussed in the context of CFT.
SN  - 2573-4393
UR  - https://doi.org/10.21926/obm.icm.2303037
DO  - 10.21926/obm.icm.2303037
ID  - Bell2023
ER  -