Horowitz, M. (2005). Steps 5 and 6: Modifying states and state transitions and working through topics of concern. In M. Horowitz, Understanding psychotherapy change: A practical guide to configurational analysis (pp. 71-86). Washington, DC, US: American Psychological Association.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/11083-005
This chapter explores the fifth and sixth steps in the configurational analysis (CA) approach to psychotherapeutic change in brief psychotherapy. Step five--phenomena and states of mind--involves the modification of transitions between states. This step asks the questions: What phenomena are new, which have diminished? What states of mind have been modified? and What new modes of awareness and expression have occurred? The aim of Step six is to modify controls and work through topics of concern. It asks the questions: What interventions were made by the therapist? How did the patient respond? and What, if anything, happened to defensive avoidances or distorting processes such as projection? The psychotherapeutic processes taking place within these two steps are illustrated through the case example which runs throughout the course of this book. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)