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Building the alliance and using experiential techniques in the early phases of psychotherapy for avoidant personality disorder
Author(s) -
Centonze Antonella,
Popolo Raffaele,
MacBeth Angus,
Dimaggio Giancarlo
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of clinical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.124
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1097-4679
pISSN - 0021-9762
DOI - 10.1002/jclp.23143
Subject(s) - psychology , psychotherapist , avoidant personality disorder , experiential learning , personality , personality disorders , alliance , psychopathology , clinical psychology , social anxiety , anxiety , social psychology , psychiatry , mathematics education , political science , law
Individuals experiencing avoidant personality disorder (AvPD) tend to make sense of social interactions via maladaptive self‐and other attributions. They also experience difficulties in recognizing emotions. A further feature of AvPD psychopathology is the tendency to resort to maladaptive coping strategies, such as behavioral avoidance and perfectionism. Despite its impact, psychological treatments for AvPD remains poorly investigated. Herein, we describe the first five sessions of Metacognitive Interpersonal Therapy with a 28‐year‐old woman, whose treatment goal was to reduce social avoidance. We describe how this goal was achieved through a combination of working through the therapeutic relationship, alongside experiential techniques such as guided imagery, rescripting, and bodily work. Through this treatment configuration, the patient was able to increase self‐awareness of her own emotions, enabling her to realize that she was guided by rigid schemas; specifically seeing herself as inadequate and others as judgmental. Finally, implications for the treatment of AvPD are discussed.