Client Context: The client, a mother in her mid-thirties with four young children, engaged in her first session. The session took place via Telehealth, with the client sitting in her car, parked across the street from her home—her only guarantee of quiet from her children. The therapy session was conducted in the evening, in a low-light setting that often resulted in her face being obscured in shadow. She presented as very distraught and described a tendency to suppress emotional experiences with logic. The session length was just under 40 minutes.
Presenting Concern: The client expressed distress about a persistent pattern of self-sabotaging important relationships. She detailed profound guilt over cutting off her best friend six months before her death from cancer. She also reported an inability to respond to over 400 unread text messages from friends despite the significant distress these behaviors caused her. She felt paralyzed and unable to understand or change her actions.
CMI Process:
Approach the SIGNAL and Resource Constriction: The client was invited to focus on her physical sensations.
- She identified an intense feeling of pressure, likened to an elephant sitting on her chest, making breathing difficult.
Sensory-Emotion Expansion: The client was encouraged to allow the sensation of being crushed to intensify in the safety of the session.
- As she did so, a core belief emerged: “I am not worthy.”
- The client was then invited to sit with the sensations associated with this belief, submitting to the possibility that it was true.
Support Connective Experience: The exploration of “not being worthy” triggered a vivid memory from high school:
- She recalled dreaming of her boyfriend’s death and telling her parents of her dream.
- The following evening, her parents forbade her from going out with her boyfriend. Tragically, he was killed in a car accident later that night.
- She remembered being excluded from the hospital where all her friends and his family gathered in his final moments. Her father explained that the last thing her boyfriend’s parents needed was for her to be in their way.
- The pivotal moment was her best friend exiting the hospital to hug her in the parking lot, as she internalized the belief that she was not worthy to be part of such moments.
- The client was guided to revisit this memory, imagining her older self experiencing the memory with her.
- When the client completed this, she said in a calm, grounded voice, “I forgave my father.” She expressed understanding toward her father, recognizing his emotional limitations stemming from his upbringing.
- She reframed the memory with an expanded perspective: while her father’s intent may have been protective, his advice was mistaken.
- She acknowledged that her younger self would naturally internalize unworthiness in such a situation, but that belief was untrue.
Reinforcing the Connective Experience: As the client integrated these realizations, she experienced a profound emotional shift. Her belief of unworthiness dissolved, replaced by a deep understanding of her intrinsic worth. She verbalized this with clarity: “Of course I am worthy.”
Outcome:The client described a sense of overwhelming peace and lightness as the burden of unworthiness lifted. She appeared grounded, confident, and self-assured. This CMI session resulted in her experiencing this critical memory for the first time through a compassionate and empowered lens, transforming a long-standing emotional wound.
Therapist Notes: This session highlighted the power of accessing and processing deep-seated emotional memories through the body and compassionate self-awareness. The client moved from distress and self-sabotage to peace and self-worth, setting the stage for potential lasting change in her relationships and self-perception.
Next Steps: Future sessions may focus on reinforcing this transformation, addressing other patterns of avoidance, and equipping the client with tools to sustain emotional engagement in her relationships.