Most people intuitively know that emotions are a central, complex, and multidimensional part of human experience. Emotions are typically in response to perceptions, include sensations, and are at the root of much of our existential meaning-making. Emotions are at the heart (not literally, of course) of much of the motivation that underlies behavior.

What follows is another excerpt from Clinical Interviewing (7^th edition). In this excerpt, we define and explore the use of an interpretive reflection of feeling as a tool to go deeper into emotion and meaning with clients. As with all things interpretive, I recommend proceeding with caution, respect, and humility. . . because sometimes clients aren’t interested in going deeper and will push back in one way or another.

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Interpretive Reflection of Feeling (aka Advanced Empathy)

Interpretive reflections of feeling are emotion-focused statements that go beyond obvious emotional expressions. Sometimes referred to as advanced empathy (Egan, 2014), interpretive reflection of feeling is based on Rogers’s (1961) idea that sometimes person-centered therapists work on emotions that are barely within or just outside the client’s awareness.

By design, interpretive reflections of feeling go deeper than surface feelings or emotions, uncovering underlying emotions and potentially producing insight (i.e., the client becomes aware of something that was previously unconscious or partially conscious). Nondirective reflections of feeling focus on obvious, clear, and surface emotions; in contrast, interpretive reflections target partially hidden, deeper emotions.

Consider again the 15-year-old boy who was so angry with his teacher.

Client: That teacher pissed me off big time when she accused me of stealing her phone. I wanted to punch her.

Counselor: You were pretty pissed off. (reflection of feeling)

Client: Damn right.

Counselor: I also sense that you have other feelings about what your teacher did. Maybe you were hurt because she didn’t trust you. (interpretive reflection of feeling)

The counselor’s second statement probes deeper feelings that the client didn’t directly articulate.

An interpretive reflection of feeling may activate client defensiveness. Interpretations require good timing (Fenichel, 1945; Freud, 1949). That’s why, in the preceding example, the counselor initially used a nondirective reflection of feeling and then, after that reflection was affirmed, used a more interpretive response. W. R. Miller and Rollnick (2002) made this point in Motivational Interviewing:

Skillful reflection moves past what the person has already said, though not jumping too far ahead. The skill is not unlike the timing of interpretations in psychodynamic psychotherapy. If the person balks, you know you’ve jumped too far, too fast. (p. 72)

Interpretive reflections of feeling assume clients will benefit from going “vertical” or deeper into understanding underlying emotions; they can have many effects, the most prominent include the following:

• If offered prematurely or without a good rationale, they may feel foreign or uncomfortable; this discomfort can lead to client resistance, reluctance, denial, or a relationship rupture (Parrow, 2023).
• When well stated and when a positive therapy relationship exists, interpretive reflections of feeling may feel supportive because therapists are “hearing” clients at deeper emotional levels; this can lead to enhanced therapist credibility, strengthening of the therapeutic relationship, and collaborative pursuit of insight.

Interpretive reflections of feeling are naturally invasive. That’s why timing and a good working alliance are essential. When using interpretive reflections of feeling, follow these principles.

• Wait until:
  • You have good rapport or a positive working alliance.
  • Your clients have experienced you accurately hearing and reflecting their surface emotions.
  • You have evidence (e.g., nonverbal signals, previous client statements) that provide a reasonable foundation for your interpretation.
  • Phrase your interpretive statement:
  • Tentatively (e.g., “If I were to guess, I’d say…”)
  • Collaboratively (e.g., “Correct me if I’m wrong, but…”)

The need to phrase statements tentatively and collaboratively is equally true when using any form of feedback or interpretation. Many different phrasings can be used to make such statements more acceptable.

• I think I’m hearing that you’d like to speak directly to your father about your sexuality, but you’re afraid of his response.
• Correct me if I’m wrong, but it sounds like your anxiety in this relationship is based on a deeper belief that she’ll eventually discover you’re unlovable.
• If I were to guess, I’d say you’re wishing you could find your way out of this relationship. Does that fit?
• This may not be accurate, but the way you’re sitting seems to communicate not only sadness but also some irritation.

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I hope this content has been of some interest or use to you in your work. If you want a bit more, a couple of emotion-related case examples are at the link below (and you can always buy the book:)).