Abstract

This study aims to assess moments of meeting in psychotherapy -understood as moments of intense connectedness and intimacy, shared between patient and therapist during any therapeutic encounter that enable a spin in the therapy process- using a qualitative interview with patients who were undergoing or had finished psychological treatment. Micro-pehenomenological interviews were conducted with nine patients who were undergoing or had finished psychological treatment. Transcriptions of the interviews were subject to micro-phenome- nological analysis. A general structure of episodes of meeting showing their temporal evolution was identified and divided into six consec- utive phases. These findings suggest that episodes of meeting in psychotherapy are lived and remembered by patients in a significant way; they are emotionally charged and have a meaning for each participant. Also, emotional and nonverbal cues seem to be highly relevant fea- tures. Moments of meeting could be understood as implicit mechanisms that allow changes in the implicit relational domain.