Hi John, here are some contributions I found helpful which might interest you:

Ahumada, L. C. B. de, & Ahumada, J. L. (2005). From mimesis to agency: Clinical steps in the work of psychic two-ness. Int. J. Psychoanal., 86, 721–736.

Downey, G. L. (1992). Agency and Structure in Negotiating Knowledge. In M. Douglas & D. Hull (Eds.), How Classification Works. Nelson Goodman Among the Social Sciences . Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

Enfield, N. J. (2011). Sources of asymmetry in human interaction: enchrony, status, knowledge and agency. In T. Stivers, L. Mondada, & J. Steensig (Eds.), The morality of knowledge in conversation (pp. 285–312). Cambridge/New York: Cambridge University Press.

Gibson, D. R. (2000). Seizing the Moment: The Problem of Conversational Agency. Sociological Theory, 18(3), 368–382.

Koenig, C. J. (2011). Patient resistance as agency in treatment decisions. Social Science & Medicine, 72, 1106–1114.

Mitchell, S. A. (2002). Fairbairn and the problem of agency. In F. Pereira & D. E. Scharff (Eds.), Fairbairn and relational theory . London/New York: Karnac.

Peräkylä, A. (2002). Agency and Authority: Extended Responses to Diagnostic Statements in Primary Care Encounters. Research on Language & Social Interaction, 35(2), 219–247.

Rustin, J. (1997). Infancy, Agency, and Intersubjectivity. A View of Therapeutic Action. Psyche - Z Psychoanal, 7, 43–62.

Self agency is a relevant topic in social psychology. Handbooks have a lot of literature on that topic.

Best

Michael

Chris

Not quite clear what you are looking for but I will tell you what I know. First, regarding “agency.” Are you interested in clients’ experience of agency? Or in the fact that they act agentically? They could act agentically without explicitly perceiving or experiencing themselves as being agentic. For instance, I have considered David Rennie’s qualitative studies as having demonstrated client agency in terms of action (so did David). But there was no explicit attempt to measure or even to ask clients if they were feeling agentic at the time. Second, I’m not sure if you mean something different by self-agency from agency per se.

            I’ve summarized evidence suggesting that clients act agentically in therapy. Most of it is qualitative and does not explicitly link to outcome, although I think you can infer a link. I will attach two chapters that summarize evidence. Both are page proofs so probably you shouldn’t quote directly, but the content is the same as is what is in the final chapters. The Bohart & Wade chapter is in the recent Handbook of Psychotherapy and Behavior Change. The Bohart & Tallman is in M. Cooper, J. C. Watson, & D. Hölldampf (Eds.), Person-centered and experiential therapy work: A review of the research on counseling, psychotherapy and related practices (pp. 91-133). Ross-on-Wye: PCCS Books.

            As far as the experience of agency, there is less. One study I know of is Hoener, Stiles, Luka, & Gordon, (2012). That is cited in both chapters, although mis-cited in Bohart & Tallman (2010) as “Hoerner” (I mis-spelled her name; it is Hoener, and in that chapter it is her conference presentation that is cited).

Art

Hi John,

I'd think of two giants in the humanistic and existential psychotherapy traditions: Carl Rogers and Irvin Yalom.

1. Carl Rogers talked about the "actualizing tendency" or "self-actualization" of human beings and how the core conditions in the therapeutic relationship can get humans unstuck and move toward self-actualization in his classic books On becoming a person and Client-centered therapy.

2. In his Existential psychotherapy, Love's executioner, and The theory and practice of group therapy, Irvin Yalom discussed the ultimate concerns or givens of human existence: death, freedom, isolation, and meaninglessness; he also explored how the individual therapeutic relationship and the interpersonal learning plus other therapeutic factors in group therapy can facilitate changes in individuals.

Best,

Stephen

Thank you, Art.  Your answer is very helpful.  My interest is with regard to patients "acting agentically" in the therapeutic relationship, to seeing the movement to a more agentic, more expressive position in the psychotherapy.  We have observed such a movement in cognitive-behavioral cases where therapists were introduced to a specialized training (with a relational or interpersonal-experiential bent) at varying points during the course of treatment.  We have found such movements related to good outcome.   Now we are interested to see if such a movement is evident in cognitive-behavioral cases without the introduction of the specialized training & whether it has implications for outcome in these cases.  Thanks again, Chris

Dear Stephen:  Thank you too for your answer.  I have a student working on a review paper on this subject.  I will pass your answer along too.   I'm sure it will be useful.  Best, Chris

Perhaps you might want to take a look at 'The science of the art of psychotherapy' Allan Schore. Based on attachment principles, restoring within the individual right brain mechanisms that are at the core of the self. Hope this may be of some help. 

Thank you