Interpersonal biofeedback in psychodynamic psychotherapy

Abstract

The idea that the patient-therapist relationship is at the core of change in psychotherapy has found broad consensus and ample empirical evidence in recent years (Norcross and Wampold, 2011). Engaging in an efficacious relationship is part of being an expert therapist (Kramer and Stiles, 2015), and while specific techniques are easily learnable, managing to “read the room” and to flexibly modulate the therapeutic response is still more an art than a science (McWilliams, 2004). With this article, we present the theoretical foundations supporting the development of “interpersonal biofeedback” as a tool to enhance therapists' awareness of unconscious interpersonal regulation dynamics.