ABSTRACT
A large majority of clients presenting for therapy are seeking a means of regulating their emotional states. Often their feelings are intense and overwhelming, or they feel detached and confused by their emotions and the emotions of others. Leader argues that there is a culturally prevalent model whereby individuals avoid any intense or distressing emotion and that these unpleasant emotions are ‘medicated away’. Deepening affect is not the same as catharsis or cathartic methods, although such deepening may well have a positive cathartic result for the client. By facilitating the deepening of affect, the emotional intensity may stimulate the emergence of an impasse. The redecision school of Transactional Analysis employs heighteners for this purpose. Deepening affect has many potential therapeutic outcomes. Any therapy that promotes greater experiential awareness and phenomenological exploration and processing may well generate insight and promote Adult awareness.
