Psychotherapy of Relational Withdrawal: Perspectives from a Client and Therapist

Abstract

This article presents a unique form of psychotherapy research. Rather than using a parametric research design involving several participants, the single-person research format presented here makes use of three significant components: a verbatim transcript of a recorded psychotherapy session; a detailed description of the client’s internal experience during and after the psychotherapy session; and the psychotherapist’s reflections on what he was feeling and thinking. Additionally, this article describes how to engage in an in-depth psychotherapy for the client who is emotionally sequestered and relationally withdrawn. It emphasizes how relationally withdrawn clients have a particular need for a sensitive psychotherapist who is responsive to their fear laden and non-verbal affect states—a state of being that may be present but often overlooked in a verbal psychotherapy.