The Frame-In Approach: A Neurobiological and Attachment-Based Model for Managing the Therapeutic Frame in Complex...

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Neuroscience
• Psychotherapy

Background:

• Conventional views of the psychotherapeutic frame are insufficient for complex trauma treatment.
• Complex relational dynamics, frame departures, and enactments are common in trauma therapy.
• Attachment theory and memory systems neuroscience offer new insights.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose an updated conceptualization of the psychotherapeutic frame.
• To emphasize the frame's adaptive functions in treating complex trauma and attachment disruptions.
• To integrate attachment theory and memory systems neuroscience into understanding the frame's therapeutic significance.

Main Methods:

• Conceptual analysis integrating attachment theory and neuroscience of memory.
• Conceptualizing frame departures as activations of procedural scripts.
• Proposing a systematic "frame-in" approach to treatment.

Main Results:

• The frame's therapeutic significance is linked to its interaction with implicit memory systems, particularly procedural memory.
• Frame departures reflect attempts to navigate relational distress based on past experiences.
• The "frame-in" approach facilitates management of enactments and promotes procedural learning.

Conclusions:

• The psychotherapeutic frame's adaptive functions are crucial for complex trauma treatment.
• A "frame-in" approach actively manages the therapeutic alliance and modifies maladaptive relational patterns.
• This approach enhances therapeutic outcomes by integrating relational and memory system perspectives.