The Case of "Chris" through a Principle-Based and Alliance-Focused Lens

Abstract

The case of Chris (Yunusova, 2023) details an 8-session Accelerated Experiential-Dynamic Psychotherapy (AEDP) treatment delivered in the context of a university clinic. Chris is a 30-year-old white male who had nearly completed a doctoral program at the time of treatment. He presented to treatment with the goals of addressing loneliness and depressive thought patterns in the context of the expectation that his emotions were overwhelming and noxious to others. The case illustrates the active role that avoidance and exposure can play in AEDP, with emphasis on affective exposure by way of AEDP’s efforts to increase the patient’s tolerance of their own emotions as well as those of others. The following discussion applies the integrative notion of principles of change in psychotherapy to the case of Chris, with an explicit focus on the therapeutic alliance and the emergence of alliance rupture markers in the development of the case.