ABS122 - The semiotic process of temporality in couple therapy

The purpose of the study addresses the temporality quality of relational processes. Our current experience is shaped with a sense of time. Time is integrated in the construction of the self and the bonds with others. In the couple there are tension around how temporality is experienced by each partner. There are individual times, and shared times. It implies life transitions, uncertainties of the future, history and emotional impact issues. The study explores experiential time, the coordination of different temporalities and regulatory processes of the couple in the therapeutic encounter. A methodology of semiotic analysis is used with the dialogues during the sessions. The results are organized in two levels: A level of meanings: vital periods, events, and temporal orientation. At a process level: Sequences of: transitions and experiential time in the couple generate tensions between individual and conjoint positions and regulatory strategies.