The Meaning of Present Experience in the AEDP Process: Accompanying Toward ‘Transformation’

This study explored the experiences and meanings within the AEDP process, focusing on providing a corrective attachment experience and creating a transformative space for the client. Materials were collected from one woman's counseling session, including her drawings, diaries, and interviews. Using a hermeneutic phenomenological method, the analysis revealed that the single-session AEDP experience was an accompaniment between the client and therapist, embodying the themes of 'meeting', 'staying', and 'transforming'. 'Meeting' included 'meeting the true other' and 'meeting with the body'; 'staying' involved 'staying with the true other' and 'staying with the body’s image'; and 'transforming' encompassed 'body transformation' and 'narrative transformation'. The client's ‘transformation’ was revealed as a spiral process in which bodily sensations, emotional experiences, and narrative differences are repeatedly generated through the presence and relationship between the client and the therapist. This study modestly contributes to validating and elaborating AEDP theory.