Leslie Greenberg and Joanna Macy are progenitors of two approaches to accessing and transforming emotional experience to promote integration, empowerment, and deeper communion with aspects of the self and the world. Greenberg has spent decades researching emotional processes in psychotherapy (Emotion-Focused Therapy, EFT). Macy has over the same time developed an experiential group process model designed to unleash human intention for change in light of existential threats to peace and environmental sustainability (the Work That Reconnects, WTR). In this paper, I discuss EFT and WTR as models of human functioning and highlight the emotional and change processes inherent to each model. Broadly speaking, EFT operates on the principle that engagement in and experience of emotional memories makes problematic emotions receptive to new, adaptive input and better functioning. Similarly, WTR operates on the principle that the expression of emotions associated with human interconnectedness with all life inspires intention and engagement regarding environmentally sustainable behaviors and ways of being. In both models, adaptive change is fostered through the promotion of safety, empathy, enactment, and engagement. Greenberg and Macy agree that “dark” emotions are a source of empowerment and change when accessed and processed with intention. Exploring EFT and WTR in tandem suggests new directions for the growth and development of both approaches.
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