EMDR and Emotionally Oriented Couples Therapy

When reviewing past and current research on the role of emotion in couples therapy, there appeared to be a lack of articulation concerning how emotional expressions and relational dynamics are affected by emotional trauma that has not been accessed. The authors demonstrate how emotionally and experientially oriented therapy with couples can be enhanced by accessing stored trauma through the use of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). This approach is called Eye Movement Relationship Enhancement (EMRE) therapy and includes key clinical areas such as accessing and tolerating previously disowned emotion, reprocessing emotional experiences, and amplifying couple intimacy. These key areas are discussed and illustrated with case examples.     

To whom do positive norm and negative norm of reciprocity apply? Effects of inequitable offer, relationship, and relational-self orientation

Various theories have been proposed to account for people’s reciprocity behavior in social exchange. The current research is designed to delineate the conditions under which and for whom the relational theoretical explanation is most applicable. We hypothesize that while people in general show positive (negative) reciprocity responses toward favorable (unfavorable) inequitable treatments from others, such a tendency varies depending on the relationship with the exchange counterpart, and their own relational-self orientation. While we used country (China vs. the US) as a proxy for participants’ relational-self orientation in Study 1, this orientation was directly assessed in Study 2. Results from both studies showed consistent support for our hypothesis. Implications of these findings to literatures in reciprocity and social exchange are discussed.     

Taking Relationship Seriously in Psychotherapy: Radical Relationality

Psychologists who have historically focused on relationships have tended to underestimate the radical nature of human relationship. A “serious” or an ontological relationality would change the nature of psychotherapy. We describe this change in a discussion of two approaches to relationship, weak and strong relationality. We argue that weak relationality, the general conception of relationship in mainstream psychology, does not ultimately take even the therapeutic relationship seriously. We then discuss and illustrate ten practical implications that a strong relationality would have for psychotherapy.

Divine Encounter

“Divine Encounter” is a poem depicting a place-based religious experience.     

An Examination of the Role of Mentees’ Social Skills and Relationship Quality in a School-Based Mentoring Program

Research on youth mentoring highlights the importance of the relationship quality between mentor and mentee; mentoring results in more positive outcomes when the mentee perceives the relationship as satisfying and trustworthy. Research on relationship quality shows that social skills are important for constructing new relationships. However, whereas improved social skills are often one of the main goals of youth mentoring, little is known about the importance of social skills for relationship quality in youth mentoring relations. In this study, we examined whether mentee's pre-intervention social skills were related to mentor–mentee relationship quality as perceived by the mentee, and in turn, if relationship quality was associated with post-intervention social skills. We additionally examined possible gender and age differences in these associations. Data were used from a two-wave study that assessed relationship quality and social skills before and after one semester of mentoring of 390 secondary school students in a school-based mentoring program. Results indicated that relationship quality was positively associated with post-intervention social skills. However, only for young mentees pre-intervention social skills were associated with better relationship quality. Moreover, only for young mentees, relationship quality mediated the association between pre- and post-intervention social skills.