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Journal of Systemic Therapies. Vol. 17. No.2. 1998
In this paper. I describe a treatment approach which combines an emphasis on concrete changes in couple interaction with experiential methods for helping clients (I) influence emotional states which block needed changes in thinking and behavior. and (2) come into contact with emotional states which facilitate change. Pragmatic/experiential therapy can be used with individuals. couples. or families. This paper describes the application of pragmatic/experiential therapy with couples.
My interest in working with emotion in the context of systemic therapy began in the mid-1980's, when I was investigating current thinking among neurological and biological scientists regarding how the brain creates the realities we experience (Maturana & Varela, 1987; von Foerster, 1984). I discovered a number of studies suggesting that emotion plays a crucial role in organizing how we see the world. Particularly interesting were studies suggesting that, in terms of neural architecture, the structures which generate emotion have a privileged position, and are situated with the ability to exert enormous influence on the rest of the brain (Ornstein, 1986, 1991).
Throughout the past decade, studies have continued to emerge suggesting the centrality of emotion in organizing thought and behavior. For example. Antonio Damasio's studies of patients with frontal lobe damage suggest that emotion is an integral part in all practical decision-making, and that those who are without it demonstrate a record of disastrous decisions (Damasio, 1994). Joseph LeDoux (1996) has located separate neural pathways that allow the emotional system to bypass the neocortex, and has identified the amygdala as a central emotional decision maker, capable of making split-second emotional choices, equipped with the neural connections to influence the entire brain as well as activate every physiological response related to emotion. Jack Panksepp's (1,982, 1985, 1986,
Brent J. Atkinson. Ph.D . is an associate professor of marriage and family therapy. School of Family. Consumer & Nutrition Sciences. Northern Illinois University. DeKalb. IL 60115. Please address correspondence concerning this article there.
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PRAGMATIC/EXPERIENTIAL THERAPY FOR COUPLES
BRENT J. ATKINSON, Ph.D.
Northern Illinois University
PragmaticJExperiential Therapy 19
1989. 1992a. b) studies suggest that there are separate neural pathways for each emotion, and these neural circuits function as special-purpose systems. When a specific emotional circuit is activated. there are certain types of...