An innovative methodology is presented for identifying and assessing change process in psychoanalytic treatments. Using the Psychotherapy Process Q-set (PQS), a panel of experienced psychoanalysts developed a prototype of an ideal psychoanalytic hour. This prototype was then applied to verbatim transcripts of three archived treatment samples: psychoanalyses, long-term analytic therapies, and brief psychodynamic therapies. The degree to which these treatments fostered an analytic process as represented by the prototype was measured quantitatively. Analytic process was significantly more present in psychoanalyses than in the long-term analytic therapies, which, in turn fostered significantly more analytic process than did brief psychodynamic therapies. The study demonstrates that, given descriptive language that does not represent a particular theoretical perspective, analysts can agree on a definition of analytic process, and that analytic process can be operationalized and quantitatively assessed. A second study demonstrates that despite consensus on its definition, there is not just one proper analytic process; rather, there are change processes unique to each dyad. Two quantitative case studies illustrate how each analytic pair has a unique interaction pattern linked to treatment progress. These dyad-unique “interaction structures” are recurrent, mutually influencing patterns of interaction, the experience, recognition, and comprehension of which appear to be a fundamental component of therapeutic action. A bipersonal model is described that attempts to bridge theories of therapeutic action that focus on insight and self-understanding and those that emphasize the patient's experience of the therapist.
UR IMPRESSIONS of others are determined not alone by information which these others directly provide; the verbal and gestural responses of a "stimulus person" (SP) are typically assessed by a perceiver in relation to the situation in which they occur (Jones & Thibaut, 1958). In many cases, the perceiver himself is a component of this situation. He must therefore consider his own behavior as a condition affecting the other's responses and the meaning he assigns to them. If A, for example, is aware of his own role in the instigation of hostile behavior in B, he is less likely to think of B as hostile or unpleasant, than he would if he were unaware of the provocation he himself provided.It seems to follow that, in the typical social interaction, evaluations of others on the basis of their responses are contingent on the perceiver's evaluation of his own behavior. If the perceiver behaves in a "good" fashion and this elicits a "bad" response (e.g., a negative evaluation, a frown, a critical comment) from the SP, the latter will be judged as personally bad by the perceiver. If the perceiver is unconvinced that his own behavior is good, worthy, or appropriate, he will be less likely to form a negative evaluation of SP. This line of reasoning suggests an experimental situation in which one person (the SP) responds with hostility to the behavior of another (the perceiver) which is or is not highly valued by the perceiver himself.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.