Ongoing Outcome Research on Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy

Abstract

In this paper short-term dynamic psychotherapy (STAPP) is described briefly in terms of its selection criteria and technique, and the preliminary findings of an ongoing outcome study are presented. Of 22 experimental patients who were treated with STAPP, 14 were rated as ‘recovered’ by two evaluators, 4 were ‘much better’, 3 ‘little better’ and 1 was ‘unchanged’. Of 8 controls who waited a period of 2–5 months, 5 were ‘unchanged’ and 3 ‘a little better’ at the end of their waiting period. When they were treated subsequently, 4 had ‘recovered’, 2 were ‘much better’ and 2 withdrew having moved from the Boston area. The complexities inherent in psychotherapy evaluation are described, and the 3 patients who improved ‘a little’ and the 1 who was ‘unchanged’ are discussed briefly.

Suitability for brief dynamic psychotherapy: psychodynamic variables as predictors of outcome

“…Intraclass correlations (ICC), averaged over 4 raters, ICC (3.4) (19), ranged from 0.77 to 0.83 (20). The unit of analysis was the mean score of 4 clinicians (21), who participated in the project all through the 10 years.a Comparable reliability and aspects of predictive validity of the criteria have been established in several other studies as well (12, [22][23][24].…”

“…The ratings were post-treatment estimates of change on 7-point scales. The interrater reliability, internal consistency, test-re-test stability and convergent validity of the scales have been established in several studies (23,(32)(33)(34). ICC 3.4 ranged from 0.60 to 0.93 at the 2-year follow-up and from 0.86 to 0.95 at the 4-year follow-up.…”

“…Symptomatic change was also measured by raw gain, or residual gain (31) scores of the Global Assessment Scale, rated before therapy and at follow-ups. Five dynamic scales, modified based on Sifneos et al (23), had been designed to measure mode-specific post-treatment changes (1) after dynamic therapy: interpersonal relations, self-esteem, new cognitive learning, new self-understanding or insight and problem-solving capacity. The ratings were post-treatment estimates of change on 7-point scales.…”

Change in self‐protect ion and symptoms after dynamic psychotherapy: the influence of pretreatment motivation

“…The average scores across raters were used in this study. Predictive and convergent validity have been established (Barth et al, 1998;Heiberg, 1977;Høglend et al, 1992;Husby, 1985;Sifneos et al, 1980). Psychological awareness ranged from 1-2 for no awareness, 3-4 for ambivalence about cause of symptoms, and 5-8 for a clear psychological explanation of symptoms.…”

Psychoanalytische Therapie

“…In den Untersuchungen von Sifneos (Sifneos et al 1980;Sifneos 1990) und HolmHadulla et al (1997 war psychoanalytische Therapie einer Wartelistenbedingung signifikant überlegen. In den Studien von Rudolf et al (1994) und Sandell et al (1999Sandell et al ( , 2001 erzielte psychoanalytische Langzeittherapie (LZT) größere Effekte als kürzere Therapie.…”