Listening to the Music: Emotion as a Natural Part of Systems Theory

1998/06/01 by Susan M. Johnson · 1 citation
Psychology · #Attachment and Relationship Dynamics #Counseling, Therapy, and Family Dynamics #Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development #Active listening #Psychology #Natural (archaeology) #Dance #Compassion #Context (archaeology) #Expression (computer science) #Social psychology #Empathy #Cognitive psychology #Communication #Computer science #Visual arts #Art #History

paper · doi:10.1521/jsyt.1998.17.2.1

openalex publication_date 1998/06/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/27

Abstract

The paper argues that emotion is not a within phenomena that falls outside the bounds of systems theory. It is a leading element in the system that organises interactions between intimates. To leave emotion unaddressed is to miss a crucial part of the context of close relationships. Emotional expression is the main route by which partners and family members define their relationships and influence each other's behavior. It is the music of the attachment dance. The fastest and most direct way to create change in relationships may be to change this music and actively evoke the emotions that elicit caring, compassion and contact.

Citations

• RELATING PROCESS TO OUTCOME IN MARITAL THERAPY
• Emotionally focused couples therapy: Status and challenges.
• Change Process Research in Couple and Family Therapy: Methodological Challenges and Opportunities.
• Emotionally focused family therapy for bulimia: Changing attachment patterns.
• Measuring Dyadic Adjustment: New Scales for Assessing the Quality of Marriage and Similar Dyads
• A theory of marital dissolution and stability.
• Social Relationships and Health
• Why rejection hurts: a common neural alarm system for physical and social pain
• Emotions and emotional communication in infants.

Cited by

• Emotionally focused therapy [wikipedia]