In the Light: On Meta-Experience and Spiraling Effects in Psychotherapy—Commentary on Louis Sass’s Commentary on Diana Fosha’s Commentary on Nicole Vigoda Gonzalez’s Case of "Rosa"

Abstract

In the previous issue of this journal, I commented (Fosha, 2018) on the psychotherapy case study of "Rosa," written by Nicole Vigoda Gonzalez (2018). To address Rosa’s relational trauma and major depression, Vigoda Gonzalez effectively put into clinical action the psychotherapy model I developed, called Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy (AEDP). In my commentary, I discussed how AEDP’s four-state transformational phenomenology can be used to guide the therapist’s choice of interventions. I also showed how the moment-to-moment tracking of the vitality affects accompanying affective experiences is crucial to (a) the processing of core emotions to a healing conclusion, and (b) the metatherapeutic processing (or metaprocessing for short) of this healing—two core concepts in AEDP. In the current issue of the journal, Louis Sass (2019), an internationally recognized expert on phenomenology and psychopathology, has commented on my commentary, endorsing the importance of a phenomenological perspective in psychotherapy. He also raised some concerns about the use and usefulness of metaprocessing for some types of clients, especially those with the distancing defenses of derealization and depersonalization. In this article I respond to Sass’s important and very thoughtful points.