Accelerated experiential dynamic psychotherapy

Domain I · Psychodynamic & depth psychology · Diana Fosha · 2000

What it is

Accelerated experiential dynamic psychotherapy (AEDP) is a healing-oriented, attachment-based, experiential-psychodynamic therapy developed by Diana Fosha. It descends from Davanloo/Malan short-term dynamic therapy and draws on Gendlin's and Greenberg's experiential work, affective neuroscience and…

Format

• Structure. AEDP has no fixed treatment phases. It uses a moment-to-moment map of four states joined by three state transformations. The cycle can run several times in one session and recurs across treatment, with each pass deepening the last.
• AEDP 1.0 vs 2.0. In 2002–2006 the model had three states: defense, core affect and core state. Healing affects counted as a marker of the second transformation, and metatherapeutic processing sat inside core state. Version 2.0 makes metaprocessing its own State 3.

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Recording sessions on video for review and supervision is a strong training norm.
• Back to State 1: if red-signal affects, defenses or a relational "jangle" reappear, return to State 1 work: regulation, repair and defense work.
• Version followed: AEDP 2.0. That means the four-state, three-transformation map (Fosha 2009; Fosha ed. 2021; AEDP Institute glossary and training objectives), combined with the intervention taxonomy of AEDP 1.0 (Fosha 2000, 2001, 2002). Where AEDP 1.0 described three states (defense → core affect → core state), this guide flags the difference.

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is there physical contact? Was it explained beforehand, and do you feel free to say no or stop at any point?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Does it involve intense or unusual breathing? Have you been told about the medical conditions for which that is not advised?
• Does it involve fasting, a special diet or 'detox'? Have you discussed this with your doctor?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• Using the map to lecture. It mainly guides you.
• Psychoeducation used as a defense by therapist or patient.
• The platform turning into an intellectual lecture. Keep it short.
• Insight with no felt sense. Bring it back to here-and-now experience.
• Better tolerance with each round. If tolerance falls, stop and regulate.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.