Resource Work: lineage, references and evidence boundary

How to read this page

The sources below provide context for selected components related to Resource Work. They do not test or validate the exact Deep Emotional Work (DEW) Resource Work sequence, establish a clinical outcome or imply endorsement of the Deep Emotional Work Academy (DEWA).

Evidence for a related method, broader treatment model or bundled programme cannot be transferred automatically to Resource Work. A plausible rationale is not the same as demonstrated effectiveness or safety.

Method lineage

Resource-oriented and imagery-based practices have established histories outside DEW. Resource Work does not claim to have invented emotional resources, guided imagery or resource-oriented practice.

The DEW contribution described here is its specific educational architecture for purposeful selection, sequencing, pacing, self-observation, stopping, reinforcement, closure and professional boundaries. This description does not claim ownership of the broader concepts or traditions from which the architecture developed.

Bounded method rationale

The method asks a learner to bring a familiar remembered situation to mind and notice its present representation. The intended rationale is that deliberate attention to a suitable remembered situation may evoke a constructive present response, and that repeated practice is intended to make the resource easier to revisit.

This explains why the module uses specific remembered situations, current representations and repeated practice. It does not prove that a response will occur, predict its size or duration, or establish that Resource Work resolves a problem.

Selected component context

• Fredrickson, B. L., and Branigan, C. (2005). Positive emotions broaden the scope of attention and thought-action repertoires. Cognition and Emotion, 19(3), 313-332. This experimental study concerns positive emotions, attention and thought-action repertoires. It does not test Resource Work.
• Algoe, S. B., and Fredrickson, B. L. (2011). Emotional fitness and the movement of affective science from lab to field. American Psychologist, 66(1), 35-42. This article discusses the translation of affective-science findings into an emotional-fitness context. It does not test Resource Work.
• Bauckhage, J., and Sell, C. (2021). When and for whom do psychodynamic therapists use guided imagery? Explicating practitioners' tacit knowledge. Research in Psychotherapy: Psychopathology, Process and Outcome, 24(3), Article 577. This qualitative study examines therapists' decisions about guided imagery. It is not a safety or efficacy trial for Resource Work.

Guided Affective Imagery provides adjacent context for imagery-based methods. It is not another name for Resource Work, and the two should not be treated as interchangeable techniques.

What the evidence does not establish

The selected sources do not establish that:

• Resource Work is suitable for a particular person or situation;
• the exact DEW sequence produces a specific emotional or clinical outcome;
• a constructive response during practice will last;
• repeated practice necessarily improves resilience, wellbeing or professional performance;
• Resource Work treats trauma or another mental-health condition; or
• completing this module establishes professional competence.

Temporary change during a practice is not proof that a problem has been resolved.

Related pages

• Read Emotional resources: the Resource Work reference for the key terms.
• Read Resource Work: choice, stopping and professional boundaries for the use boundary.
• Return to Resource Work: orientation.