EFTA Conversation: Working with/in Vulnerable Emotions in Couple and Family Therapy, with Kyriaki Polychroni

Systemic epistemology and psychotherapy have revolutionized the field over decades. It has become common practice to not view “Anthropos” (Greek for the “whole human being”, both male and female) in a long-term exploration of unconscious drives, or a focus on an individual’s internal thoughts and behaviours, but rather to emphasize the interconnectedness of group and family members and how their interactional patterns and roles influence the wellbeing of those seeking our services.

More recent advances in neuroscience research show that attachment – a wired-in human need to connect – is the biological, emotion regulation-based system guiding cognitive and emotional processes with respect to intimate and significant relationships. Emotion is what colors our world and is the ‘music of the dance’ we do with others.
As systemic therapists we need to take on board the perspective of attachment theory and integrate experiential interventions to work with and within deep vulnerable emotions and so de-escalate negative interactional patterns and foster new bonding events that increase the security between partners and families – interventions that stress the primary significance of emotion and emotional communication in the organization of the reciprocally determining system of responses that constitute an attachment relationship.

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