5 months ago
Co Creator: 
3
12
Posted On: May 14th 2026, 11:25 am
Tagged Users:
Research shows that a client’s ability to actually feel their emotions during a session, not just talk about them, is the strongest predictor of positive outcomes in therapy, surpassing even the therapeutic alliance.
This is called depth of emotional experiencing, and across therapeutic orientations and treatment approaches, higher emotional experiencing consistently predicts better results.
The thing is you can have an amazing therepeutic alliance AND still not feel your feelings in the session. I also know this from personal experience. I loved some of my past therapists, however, it was CBT rather than the trauma and somatic informed guidance needed to irrigate the dis-ease I was carrying. Intellectualizing is over thinking and under feeling.
Earlier today, I sat down with Dr. Howard Schubiner @hschubiner @symptomatic.me @cormendihealth for @thetraumatherapistpodcast (coming out soon), a pioneer in mind-body medicine, who shared this insight and it stopped me in my tracks.
For clients/ patients, healing isn’t just about showing up and talking. It’s about being willing to actually feel through any dis-ease in the body. It’s worth asking yourself how much you’re actually letting yourself feel in your sessions, and if the answer is not much, that’s important information worth exploring. Also, not every therapist is for every client, and that’s more than ok. You have permission to go where you feel most courageous to both remove your mask and feel it to heal it.
For therapists/ providers, our work is to co-create a space courageous enough for that kind of feeling. That means doing our own inner work too, so we can truly meet, guide, and hold what comes up. It’s worth taking inventory of how much space we’re actually making for this in our practice, and honestly, after hearing this, I’ll be doing exactly that.
And a gentle reminder: Getting to this point, still requires therapeutic rapport, which can take time.
🤍
📚 Sources:
Pascual-Leone & Yeryomenko (2015), depth of emotional experiencing meta-analysis
Elliott et al. (2018), therapist empathy and outcomes meta-analysis
This is called depth of emotional experiencing, and across therapeutic orientations and treatment approaches, higher emotional experiencing consistently predicts better results.
The thing is you can have an amazing therepeutic alliance AND still not feel your feelings in the session. I also know this from personal experience. I loved some of my past therapists, however, it was CBT rather than the trauma and somatic informed guidance needed to irrigate the dis-ease I was carrying. Intellectualizing is over thinking and under feeling.
Earlier today, I sat down with Dr. Howard Schubiner @hschubiner @symptomatic.me @cormendihealth for @thetraumatherapistpodcast (coming out soon), a pioneer in mind-body medicine, who shared this insight and it stopped me in my tracks.
For clients/ patients, healing isn’t just about showing up and talking. It’s about being willing to actually feel through any dis-ease in the body. It’s worth asking yourself how much you’re actually letting yourself feel in your sessions, and if the answer is not much, that’s important information worth exploring. Also, not every therapist is for every client, and that’s more than ok. You have permission to go where you feel most courageous to both remove your mask and feel it to heal it.
For therapists/ providers, our work is to co-create a space courageous enough for that kind of feeling. That means doing our own inner work too, so we can truly meet, guide, and hold what comes up. It’s worth taking inventory of how much space we’re actually making for this in our practice, and honestly, after hearing this, I’ll be doing exactly that.
And a gentle reminder: Getting to this point, still requires therapeutic rapport, which can take time.
🤍
📚 Sources:
Pascual-Leone & Yeryomenko (2015), depth of emotional experiencing meta-analysis
Elliott et al. (2018), therapist empathy and outcomes meta-analysis
Comments (12)
5 months agolalita_stress_free_fast
💯 correct. 14 years of coaching, clients not necessarily cried every time, but always emotions explored, expressed and processed every session.
5 months agolouise.hart01
So therefore it’s about the therapeutic alliance. When the client feels safely held by the therapist, only then can they begin to feel. The more positive regard they receive for each and every feeling, the deeper the trust and the deeper the healing
5 months agomayaliladivento
Yessss I’ve always heard//believed the most important aspect of healing was a feeling of safety - safe to finally FEEL. Love IS emotional safety!
More posts
