The Added Value of Studying Embodied Responses in Couple Therapy Research: A Case Study

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/famp.12374
• Author: Berta Vall,Anu Karvonen,Valeri Tsatsishvili,Jukka Kaartinen,Jaakko Seikkula,Markku Penttonen,Virpi‐Liisa Kykyri,Aarno Laitila
• Published date: 01 September 2019
• Date: 01 September 2019

The Added Value of Studying Embodied Responses

in Couple Therapy Research: A Case Study

AARNO LAITILA*

BERTA VALL

†

MARKKU PENTTONEN*

ANU KARVONEN*

VIRPI-LIISA KYKYRI*,

‡

VALERI TSATSISHVILI*

JUKKA KAARTINEN*

JAAKKO SEIKKULA*

This article reports on the added value of embodied responses identified through sympa-

thetic nervous system (SNS) activity in couple therapy research. It focuses on moments of

change and the timing of therapeutic interventions or therapeutic moves in a couple ther-

apy session. The data for this single-case study comprise couple therapy process videotapes

recorded in a multi-camera setting, and measurements of participants’ SNS activity. The

voluntary participants were a marital couple in their late thirties and two middle-aged

male psychotherapists. The division into topic segments showed how the key issue of seek-

ing help, which was found to comprise three separate components, was repeatedly dealt

with in the session. SNS activity showed different degrees of synchronization between the

couple, between the therapists, and between the couple and therapists during the dialogue

pertaining to these three components. The issue of timing emerged as a complex, even

ambivalent, phenomenon. Arousal in the therapists was in line with their therapeutic

activity, whereas in the clients it was more anticipatory. The approach used here rendered

visible some of the intensity that therapeutic dialogue can generate when dealing with

issues of relationship change in the couple context and showed how this intensity can be

dialogically regulated in the therapeutic system.

Keywords: Couple therapy; Mixed method research; Dialogue; Embodiment

Fam Proc 58:685–697, 2019

INTRODUCTION

The topic of this study is the added value of embodied responses, identified through

autonomic nervous system (ANS) measurements, in couple therapy research.

Specifically, the study addressed the question of how important moments or moments

of change can be detected in couple and family therapy through the measurement of sym-

pathetic nervous system (SNS) activity. To this end, we looked closely at the one session

during a couple therapy process in which SNS measurements were conducted. Efforts to

*Department of Psychology, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland.

†

Faculty of Psychology, Educational and Sports Sciences, Ramon Llull University, Barcelona,Spain.

‡

Faculty of Social Sciences / Psychology, University of Tampere, Finland.

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Aarno Laitila, Department of Psychology,

University of Jyväskylä, P.O. Box 35, Jyväskylä, FIN-40014, Finland. E-mail: aarno.a.laitila@jyu.fi

This study was funded by the Academy of Finland (Grant number 265492).

685

Family Process, Vol. 58, No. 3, 2019 ©2018 Family Process Institute

doi: 10.1111/famp.12374