Coherence Therapy

Coherence Therapy is an approach to psychotherapy that focuses on exploring and resolving internal conflicts within a person’s mind. It emphasizes the idea that emotional and psychological symptoms arise from unresolved conflicts, often held outside of conscious awareness. The therapist helps the individual identify and reframe these conflicts to promote healing and personal growth. The goal is to create coherence between conscious and unconscious beliefs, leading to lasting positive change.

Coherence Therapy was developed by Dr. Bruce Ecker and Laurel Hulley. They introduced this therapeutic approach in the late 1990s. The key concepts of Coherence Therapy draw from various fields, including neuroscience, cognitive psychology, and psychotherapy traditions, to address deep-seated emotional conflicts and facilitate transformative change in individuals.

Coherence Therapy involves several key therapeutic steps:

Identifying Symptom Patterns: The therapist works with the client to identify emotional or behavioral symptoms and patterns that indicate underlying conflicts.

Tracking the Symptom to Its Origin: The therapist helps the client trace the current symptoms back to their origins, exploring the past experiences and events associated with the emotional conflicts.

Accessing Implicit Memory: Coherence Therapy places a strong emphasis on accessing implicit (unconscious) memory where unresolved emotional learnings are stored. The therapist helps the client connect with the emotions and beliefs associated with past experiences.

Aiming for Disconfirmation: The therapist then guides the client to notice any discrepancy or disconfirmation between their current emotional experience and the original learnings. This disconfirmation creates an opportunity for change.

Engaging Emotional Processing: Coherence Therapy encourages the processing of emotions at a deep level, allowing the client to experience and integrate previously avoided or conflicted emotions.

Promoting Transformation: By revisiting and updating the emotional learnings associated with past experiences, the therapy aims to promote transformation and resolution of the internal conflicts, leading to a more coherent and adaptive perspective.

Integration: The final step involves integrating the insights and changes into the client’s overall sense of self, fostering a more coherent and aligned internal experience.

These steps are designed to help individuals resolve underlying emotional conflicts and create lasting positive changes in their emotional well-being and behavior.