Client crying in the context of family therapy: an exploratory study

Cuevas-Escorza, Loreto; Garrido-Fernández, Miguel

doi:10.1111/j.1467-6427.2012.00596.x

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…While most research specific to crying in psychotherapy thus far has utilised primarily qualitative methods and clinical observations, one recent exploratory study used an external‐rated coding system and found that patients crying in family therapy sessions were positively related to successful treatment completion (Cuevas‐Escorza & Garrido‐Fernández, 2015). However, some scholars have suggested that the relationship between crying in therapy and outcome is more nuanced and that patient crying in psychotherapy can also interfere with treatment progress.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Crying in psychotherapy among Israeli patients and its relation to the working alliance, therapeutic change and attachment style

Katz

Ziv-Beiman

Rokah

et al. 2021

Couns and Psychother Res

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Patients' crying in psychotherapy can, at times, be an indicator of a healing process and reflect patients' engagement. This study explored the relationships between Israeli patients' crying in therapy, the working alliance, therapeutic change and attachment styles, using similar procedures to the ones used by Genova et al. (2020; Psychotherapy, 58, 160) in a recent investigation of Italian patients. One hundred and thirteen patients completed an online survey in Hebrew about crying in therapy and self-report measures assessing the working alliance, therapeutic change and attachment styles. Our findings revealed that self-reported working alliance was related to the patients' perceptions of their therapist responding to their most recent crying episode with support and compassion. Therapeutic change was associated with a tendency to cry in therapy and higher instances of crying in therapy during the last year. Patients with anxious-preoccupied attachment styles had more faith that crying would lead to being understood by their therapist. Dismissive-avoidant attachment style was related to higher likelihood of feeling like the most recent crying episode helped the patient understand things that they did not understand before and feel like their tears expressed things that words could not. Further, fearful-avoidant, anxious-preoccupied and dismissive-avoidant attachment styles were all related to stronger faith in the therapy relationship strengthening after crying. These findings are in line with, and expand on, Genova et al.'s (2020; Psychotherapy, 58, 160) findings regarding the therapy alliance, crying in therapy and attachment styles. Implications for the relationships between patient attachment style, therapy alliance, therapeutic change and crying in therapy are discussed.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Crying in psychotherapy among Israeli patients and its relation to the working alliance, therapeutic change and attachment style

Katz

Ziv-Beiman

Rokah

et al. 2021

Couns and Psychother Res

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Crying specifically is thought to indicate patient engagement with the therapy process and the initiation of healing (Robinson et al, 2015). In line with this thinking, Cuevas-Escorza and Garrido-Fern andez (2015) found that patient crying during family therapy sessions predicted successful treatment completion. However, there is both theoretical rationale and empirical evidence that crying in some instances may be counterproductive to the therapy process (Beck et al, 1979;Mills & Wooster, 1987).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 90%

Patient crying during psychotherapy intake sessions: Relationship to patient characteristics and early treatment process

Umphlet

Fiori

Mullin

et al. 2021

Clin Psychology and Psychoth

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The aim of the present study is to further the understanding of who cries at the beginning of psychotherapy and patients' experience of crying in that process. Intake sessions for 53 patients beginning psychotherapy at a university-based clinic were coded for discrete crying segments. Data about patient characteristics were also collected at intake. Results indicate that crying during intake sessions was related to lower global functioning and higher severity of childhood sexual abuse. Furthermore, patients who cried at intake were over four times more likely to also cry at feedback, and those who cried at feedback were almost 12 times more likely to have cried at intake. Finally, crying in the intake session did not appear to be related to patient-or therapist-rated working alliance. Overall, the present study provides valuable information about characteristics of patients who cry at the outset of the therapy process and patients' experience of crying over time in therapy. Findings suggest the need for further research on patient characteristics and aspects of the therapy process that may predict patient crying over the course of treatment, as well as how these early crying experiences may be related to eventual patient outcomes.

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“…This is consistent with meta-analytic evidence that therapist facilitation of patient emotional experience or expression in general is associated with favorable patient outcomes (Diener, Hilsenroth, & Weinberger, 2007), although research specific to crying is based primarily on clinical observations and qualitative research. Along these lines, one exploratory study using an observational coding system found that client crying during family therapy sessions predicted successful completion of treatment (Cuevas-Escorza & Garrido-Fernández, 2015). Mills and Wooster (1987) described the act of weeping in therapy as an essential stage for patients to facilitate contact with their experience and feelings although they also noted that some therapists may consider crying as an interruption of the therapeutic process that may also place implicit or explicit demands on the patient to suppress their tears.…”

Section: Tears In the Clinical Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

A clinical practice review of crying research.

2021

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The goal of this clinical practice review is to assess the current state of the theoretical and empirical literature on emotional crying (i.e., crying in response to an emotional stimulus), a topic that has received surprisingly limited attention of behavioral scientists and clinicians. Although the empirical research on emotional crying remains in a nascent state, we draw upon the existing scientific knowledge to provide preliminary suggestions for clinicians on how to interpret and respond to crying in clinical contexts. We also identify research gaps and provide recommendations for further research to improve our understanding of this intriguing and still poorly understood human behavior. We suggest that a better understanding of individual differences in crying behavior and the postulated intraindividual and interindividual functions of crying is of critical importance for clinicians, given its frequent occurrence and notable associations with emotional and social functioning. An improved characterization of this important phenomenon will lead to improvements in clinical assessment, treatment planning, and psychotherapy interventions.

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Client crying in the context of family therapy: an exploratory study

Cited by 3 publications

References 22 publications

Crying in psychotherapy among Israeli patients and its relation to the working alliance, therapeutic change and attachment style

Crying in psychotherapy among Israeli patients and its relation to the working alliance, therapeutic change and attachment style

Patient crying during psychotherapy intake sessions: Relationship to patient characteristics and early treatment process

A clinical practice review of crying research.

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