Diana Fosha

Diana Foșha is a Romanian-American psychologist, known for developing accelerated experiential dynamic psychotherapy (AEDP),^[1] and for her work on the psychotherapy of adults suffering the effects of childhood attachment trauma and abuse.^[2][3][4][5]

Diana Fosha
Born	Bucharest, Romania
Known for	Accelerated experiential dynamic psychotherapy
Academic work
Discipline	Psychology
Sub-discipline	Psychotherapy

Education and career

Fosha was born in Bucharest, but her family emigrated to the United States when she was 12 years old, settling in New York City.^{[citation needed]} She studied psychology at Barnard College and then went on to complete a doctorate in clinical psychology at the City College of New York. She also undertook post-doctoral training with Habib Davanloo, the developer of a form of psychodynamic psychotherapy called intensive short-term dynamic psychotherapy.^[6]

In her early career Fosha held teaching positions at the City College of New York and Adelphi University. She was also an adjunct professor of psychiatry at Bellevue Hospital, and was on the faculty of New York University and the St. Luke's–Roosevelt Hospital Center.^[6]

Accelerated experiential dynamic psychotherapy

Fosha developed a theory and technique of psychotherapy, accelerated experiential dynamic psychotherapy (AEDP), based upon several conceptual premises as points of departure from the prevailing psychodynamic psychotherapies.^[7] Her theory of how healing occurs in psychotherapy derives from her interpretation of research findings in several areas: the neuroscience of attachment, caregiver–infant interaction research, positive psychology, emotion research, psychotherapy research findings on therapist qualities associated with positive therapy outcomes, and phenomenology of the psychological experience of sudden change.^[8] The AEDP Institute is actively engaged in ongoing research evaluating the effectiveness of AEDP.^[9][10]

Her core premise is that the desire to heal and grow is a wired-in capacity, which she calls the transformance drive.^[11] Emotional healing and brain re-wiring^[12] the patient, with the help of the therapist, is able to experience, in a regulated manner, emotions that had been blocked due to traumatic overwhelm.^[13] Healing is accelerated through a tracking of emerging affect, so the patient can have a complete emotional experience, and then reflect upon the experience of healing change itself, with the help of the therapist. Fosha terms this technique meta-therapeutic processing.

The AEDP Institute was formed in New York City in 2004. The institute has satellite institutes throughout the US, and in Brazil, Canada, France, Italy, Sweden, Israel, China, and Japan.^[14]

Selected bibliography

Books

• Fosha, D. (2000). The Transforming Power of Affect: A Model For Accelerated Change. Basic Books
• Fosha, D, Siegel, D., Solomon M., Eds. (2009). The Healing Power of Emotion: Affective Neuroscience, Development & Clinical Practice. New York: W.W. Norton & Co.
• Prenn, N., Fosha, D. (2016). Supervision Essentials for Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy. Part of the Clinical Supervision Essentials Series. American Psychological Association, Washington, D.C.
• Fosha, D. (2021). Undoing Aloneness and the Transformation of Suffering Into Flourishing: AEDP 2.0. American Psychological Association, Washington, D.C. AAP Prose Award Winner.^[15]

Articles

• Fosha, D. (2001). The dyadic regulation of affect. Journal of Clinical Psychology/In Session. 57 (2), pages 227–242.
• Fosha, D. (2001). Trauma reveals the roots of resilience. Special September 11 Issue. Constructivism in the Human Sciences. 6 (1 & 2), pages 7–15.
• Fosha, D. (2004). "Nothing that feels bad is ever the last step": The role of positive emotions in experiential work with difficult emotional experiences. Special issue on Emotion, L. Greenberg (Ed.). Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy. 11, pages 30–43.
• Fosha, D. (2004). Brief integrative psychotherapy comes of age: reflections. Journal of Psychotherapy Integration. 14, pages 66-92.
• Fosha, D. (2005). Emotion, true self, true other, core state: toward a clinical theory of affective change process. Psychoanalytic Review. 92 (4), pages 513–552.

References

1. Neukrug, E. (2015). The Sage Encyclopedia of Psychotherapy. Los Angeles, California: Sage Publications, Inc. ISBN 978-1452274126.
2. Courtois, C.; Ford, J. (2013). The Treatment of Complex Trauma An Evidenced Based Guide. New York. London: Guildford Press. ISBN 978-1462524600.
3. Kezelman, C.; Stavropoulos, P. (2012). (PDF) (Report). Adults Surviving Child Abuse. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-03-09. Retrieved 2017-10-16.
4. Brown, D.P.; Elliot, D.S. (2016). Attachment Disturbances in Adults: Treatment for Comprehensive Repair. WW. Norton & Company. ISBN 978-0393711523.
5. Shapiro, R. (2010). The Trauma Treatment Handbook: Protocols Across the Spectrum. W.W. Norton & Company. ISBN 978-0393706185.
6. "AEDP Diana Fosha Interview". psychotherapy.net. Retrieved 2016-08-30.
7. Grotstein, James (Fall 2002). "The Transforming Power of Affect: A Model for Accelerated Change (Book Review)". apadivisions.org. Psychoanalysis Division 39 (APA). Retrieved 2010-10-16.
8. Ecker, Bruce; Ticic, Robin; Hulley, Laurel (2012). Unlocking the emotional brain: eliminating symptoms at their roots using memory reconsolidation. New York: Routledge. pp. 130–136. ISBN 9780415897167. OCLC 772112300.
9. Iwakabe, Shigeru; Edlin, Jennifer; Fosha, Diana; Gretton, Heather; Joseph, Andrew J.; Nunnink, Sarah E.; Nakamura, Kaori; Thoma, Nathan C. (December 2020). "The effectiveness of accelerated experiential dynamic psychotherapy (AEDP) in private practice settings: A transdiagnostic study conducted within the context of a practice-research network". Psychotherapy. 57 (4): 548–561. doi:10.1037/pst0000344. ISSN 1939-1536. PMID 32969670. S2CID 221887020.
10. Iwakabe, Shigeru; Edlin, Jennifer; Fosha, Diana; Thoma, Nathan C.; Gretton, Heather; Joseph, Andrew J.; Nakamura, Kaori (September 2022). "The long-term outcome of accelerated experiential dynamic psychotherapy: 6- and 12-month follow-up results". Psychotherapy. 59 (3): 431–446. doi:10.1037/pst0000441. ISSN 1939-1536. PMID 35653751. S2CID 249314767.
11. Woody, Jane D. (June 2007). "Experiencing Affect—Transformation and Healing in Psychotherapy". PsycCRITIQUES. 52 (24). doi:10.1037/a0007861.
12. Mendlovic, S.; Dorom, A.; Saad, A.; Atzil-Slonim, D.; Mar'l, S.; Bloch, Y.; Ben Yehuna, A. (2017). "The MATRIX, a novel tool exploring dynamic psychotherapy: Preliminary psychometric properties". Psychiatry Research. 258: 344–350. doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2017.08.047. PMID 28847439. S2CID 23535203.
13. Schore, A. (2012). The Science and Art of Psychotherapy. W.W. Norton & Company. ISBN 978-0393706642.
14. . Archived from the original on 2017-10-01. Retrieved 2016-08-30.
15. "ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN PUBLISHERS ANNOUNCES FINALISTS AND CATEGORY WINNERS FOR 2022 PROSE AWARDS". AAP. 25 January 2022. Retrieved 2022-02-06.