Relational depth
Overview
Relational depth is defined by Mearns and Cooper as: ‘A state of profound contact and engagement between two people, in which each person is fully real with the Other, and able to understand and value the other’s experiences at a high level’ (2005, p.xii). The concept was developed by Dave Mearns in the 1990s as a means of understanding the conditions that are necessary for an in-depth therapeutic engagement. The concept of relational depth has links with a range of similar constructs in the psychotherapy, psychology and philosophy fields – such as Buber’s ‘I-Thou’ attitude and Daniel Stern’s ‘Moments of meeting’ – but has been the subject of minimal empirical inquiry. In 2005, Mick Cooper published a qualitative study of therapists’ experiences of relational depth, and recent years have seen a number of MSc and PhD students at Strathclyde deepening and furthering this empirical exploration.
Published work
- Knox, R. (2008) Clients’ experiences of relational depth in person-centred counselling. Counselling and Pychotherapy Research, September 8, 3, 118-124
- Mearns, D. and Cooper, M. (2005) Working at Relational Depth in Counselling and Psychotherapy, London: Sage. [details here]
- Cooper, Mick (2005) Therapists' experiences of relational depth: a qualitative interview study. Counselling and Psychotherapy Research, 5 (2). pp. 87-95. ISSN 1473-3145
- Cooper, M. (2005) ‘Working at relational depth,’ Therapy Today, 16: 8, 16-20 [ details here]
Presentations
- Cooper, M. (2008) ‘Relational Depth Research and Development,’ 5th Annual Conference on the Dialogical Self, Cambridge.
- From the Research into Relational Depth one day conference, 26th Feb. 2008, Glasgow: (All conference presentations below in PDF format)
- Rosanne Knox: The importance of being earnest clients experiences of therapeutic relationships with and without relational depth:
- Sue Wiggins: Development of a Measure to Assess Relational Depth
- Siobhan Canavan & Jo Hilton: Embodied Relating: Perspectives on the Landscape of Relational Depth
- Nicoletta Abbate: Moments of Relational Depth in the therapeutic encounter
- Eleanor Macleod: Therapists’ perceptions of reaching relational depth when counselling people with learning disabilities
- David Murphy: Counselling and Psychotherapy: A mutual encounter?
- Rosanne Knox: The importance of being earnest clients experiences of therapeutic relationships with and without relational depth:
- Knox, R. (2007) Clients’ experiences of relational depth in Person-Centred Counselling’, British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy 2007 Annual Research Conference, York. [(PDF format - 81kb)]
- Cooper, M. (2006) ‘Working at relational depth’, 7th World Conference on Person-Centred and Experiential Psychotherapy and Counselling, Potsdam, Germany. [(PDF format 1MB)]
- Cooper, M. (2004) ‘Therapists’ experiences of I-Thou encounters with their clients’ 3rd Annual Conference on the Dialogical Self, Warsaw. [ (PDF format - 74kb)]
Bibliographies
This annotated bibliography was compiled during the research for Working at Relational Depth in Counselling and Psychotherapy (Sage, 2005). It is not intended to be a comprehensive and definitive review of every work related to the concept, but an evolving collection of critical reflections on many of the key texts in the field.
You are free to print off this bibliography, or sections of it, and to distribute it as you wish, provided that it is not for commercial purposes. If you do distribute this bibliography in whole or part (for instance, for teaching purposes), please ensure that the web address and author are clearly acknowledged. Please do not alter, add to, or delete from this bibliography in any way. All rights reserved.
I very much hope you will find this bibliography useful. If you have any comments or suggestions, please email Mick Cooper
Current work
- Developing a measure of relational depth
- Clients’ experiences of relational depth: retrospective and in-session reports
- Therapists’ experiences of relational depth in work with children and young people
- Therapists’ experience of relational depth in work with clients with learning disabilities
Potential research topics
- Clients’ experiences of relational depth: Do they experience it? What is it like? How does it relate to their wider experience of therapy?
- The relationship between therapists and clients experiences of relational depth: Do they experience it in the same way? Do they experience it at the same time?
- Is relational depth related to outcomes?
- How does relational depth relate to other relationship-variables, such as the therapeutic alliance and empathy?
- Are there differences in the degree to which therapists of different orientations experience relational depth with their clients?
Active researchers
- Mick Cooper (contact)
- Rosanne Knox (Ph.D. student)
- Sue Wiggins (Ph.D. student)
- Nicoletta Abbate (MSc. student)
- Amanda Hawkins (MSc. student)
- Eleanor MacLeod (MSc. student)