Psychotherapy Research : Journal of the Society for Psychotherapy Research

OBJECTIVE: This study scrutinizes the meaning of deterioration in psychotherapy beyond the widely used statistical definition of reliable symptom increase pre-to-post treatment. METHOD: An explanatory sequential mixed-methods multiple case study was conducted, combining quantitative pre-post outcome evaluation of self-reported depression symptoms and qualitative analysis of patients' interviews. In a Randomized Controlled Study on the treatment of Major Depression, three patients showing reliable increase in symptom severity on the BDI-II pre-to-post therapy were selected...

OBJECTIVE: Parents' rejection of their LGBTQ + young adults can have a negative impact on their young adult's psychological welfare, and on the young adult-parent relationship. Parents' ability to reflect on their child's pain and unmet needs is thought to evoke empathy and compassion, and reduce rejection. Empirical and clinical evidence suggest that parents' level of reflective functioning (RF) is impacted by their level of emotional arousal (EA). This study examined the association between parents' EA and RF within the context of attachment-based family therapy for nonaccepting parents and their LGBTQ+ young adults...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

Objective: This randomized controlled trial investigated the efficacy of dynamic relational group therapy (DRT) relative to group psychodynamic supportive therapy (PST) in improving perfectionism-related attitudes and components of the perfectionistic self-relationship. Method: Based on a comprehensive conceptualization of perfectionism, 80 community-recruited, highly perfectionistic individuals were randomly allocated to 12 sessions of group DRT ( n  = 41; 5 groups) or group PST ( n  = 39; 5 groups)...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

OBJECTIVE: Deliberate practice (DP) is recommended as a new approach to facilitate the acquisition of discrete therapeutic skills, however, its implementation and effectiveness in psychotherapy remains unclear. METHOD: A systematic search on DP for therapeutic skills among psychotherapy trainees and psychotherapists yielded eleven studies for inclusion. Nine were randomized controlled studies (RCTs), including seven unique RCTs, and two were within-group studies...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

OBJECTIVE: The objective was to test the hypothesis that externalizing and internalizing helpfulness beliefs and learning styles at baseline moderate panic severity and overall mental illness as short-term and long-term outcomes of two panic-focused psychotherapies, Panic Control Treatment (PCT) and Panic-Focused Psychodynamic Psychotherapy (PFPP). METHOD: Participants were 108 adults with DSM-IV Panic Disorder with or without Agoraphobia (PD/A) who were randomized to treatment in a trial of PCT and PFPP...

OBJECTIVE: This study investigated if patients' experience of an initial assessment may be associated with outcome expectations, and with subsequent treatment attendance. METHOD: The sample comprised n  = 6051 patients with depression/anxiety disorders, nested within k  = 148 assessing therapists. Multilevel modelling (MLM) was used to examine therapist effects on treatment initiation and subsequent dropout, adjusting for patient-level characteristics...

OBJECTIVE: We evaluated whether respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) reactivity and resting RSA-physiological markers reflecting the increase in heart rate with inspiration and decrease during expiration related to parasympathetic influence on the heart-are modifiable and predict symptom change during youth psychotherapy. Methods: Diverse youth ( N  = 158; ages 7-15; 48.1% female) received the Modular Approach to Therapy for Children and completed pre-treatment (pre), post-treatment (post), and 18-months postbaseline (18Mo) assessments...

Objective: Addressing ethnic-cultural topics during the process of psychotherapy, i.e. broaching , is considered highly important for ethnic minority clients who consult mental health care services. Surprisingly little is known, however, about clients' perception of a therapist's broaching qualities, and how clients' mental construction of broaching translates into behavioural broaching acts a therapist may display. Method: Based on previous work and nine in-depth interviews with ethnic minority clients, a client-rated measure of therapists' broaching behaviour was developed and psychometrically evaluated in two samples...

Background: Psychotherapy is a key evidence-based method for the treatment of mental disorders. However, little research has been published on the negative effects of psychotherapies. Aims: We examined this issue through a systematic literature review of previous systematic reviews on randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Methods: We focused on previous reviews and meta-analyses on 1) RCTs examining the effectiveness of psychotherapies and 2) previous reviews and meta-analyses specifically focusing on the negative effects of psychotherapy...

OBJECTIVE: This study examined the association between the rupture-repair process and patients' and therapists' perceptions of the therapist's responsiveness. METHOD: We used the Rsupture Resolution Rating System to rate early sessions (3-5) in 35 short-term psychodynamic psychotherapy cases. The patients and therapists rated their perceptions of the therapist's responsiveness after each session using the Patient's Experience of Attunement and Responsiveness (PEAR) Scale...

INTRODUCTION: Flexibility, the ability of an individual to adapt to environmental changes in ways that facilitate goal attainment, has been proposed as a potential mechanism underlying psychopathology and psychotherapy. In psychotherapy, most findings are based on self-report measures that have important limitations. We propose a multimodal, multi-dyad approach based on a nonlinear dynamical systems framework to capture the complexity of this concept. METHOD: A new research paradigm was designed to explore the validity of the proposed conceptual model...

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OBJECTIVE: The present study introduces and validates the Epistemic Trust Rating System (ETRS), an observer-based measure designed to assess epistemic trust (ET) within psychotherapy. ET in psychotherapy has gained much theoretical attention as a critical component in the therapeutic context, given its inherent link to social communication. However, its empirical validation remains pending, largely due to the absence of a refined instrument to gauge ET levels within the therapy environment...

Objective To explore how patients and therapists in an outpatient specialized substance use disorder treatment setting experienced the first treatment session, and to identify relational facilitators and barriers seen from both patient and therapist perspectives. Method: The study is based on a qualitative approach and semi-structured interviews of patients ( n  = 12) and therapists ( n  = 12). Interviews were conducted soon after the first treatment session and analyzed in accordance with reflexive thematic analysis...

OBJECTIVE: Theories assert that avoidance maintains maladaptive anxiety over time, yet a clear prospective test of this effect in the day-by-day lives of people with social anxiety disorder (SAD) is lacking. METHOD: We used intensive longitudinal data to test prospective relationships between social fear and social avoidance in 32 participants with SAD who reported on a total of 4256 time points. RESULTS: Results suggested that avoidance strongly predicted future anxiety, but only in a minority of people with SAD...