In Session 3, I shape the first imagined encounters with the man who died in his accident.
As session 3 begins, he talks again about his “cognitive dissonance”, this time with an image of a “Venn diagram of fear and shame.” As we assemble his emotional experience triggered by his friend’s death, for which he is responsible, I reframe his experience of shame as his sense of responsibility, remorse, and sadness. I
shape the first imagined encounter with Rob - the man who died.
In another engaged encounter with an image of Rob, we deepen his own core, suppressed emotions of guilt and remorse. Finally, I shape an encounter for him to disclose to Rob, that the accident was also a huge loss for him. He feels this is a very “big ask” and is certainly a vulnerable disclosure and a sign of stabilization.
Following excerpts from Session 3 are excerpts from Session 6 illustrating some Stage 2 Restructuring. This involves an intrapsychic encounter between his 24 year-old self and his 49 year-old self.
Following are segments from the first 15 minutes of session seven and from the final 20 minutes of that session.
We return to his unprocessed terror of remembering seeing friend’s body at the scene of the accident. You will see that through several encounters with Rob’s body, the client deepens his expansion of his sense of self.