Peter Lilliengren

A model of therapeutic action grounded in the patients’ view of curative and hindering factors in psychoanalytic psychotherapy

The patients’ view of curative and hindering factors in psychoanalytic psychotherapy was explored, starting from conducting the Private Theories Interview with 22 young adult patients at terminatio ...

Efficacy of Experiential Dynamic Therapy for Psychiatric Conditions: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Experiential dynamic therapy (EDT) is a subgroup of short-term psychodynamic psychotherapy (STPP) that emphasizes patients in-session affective processing. To evaluate the efficacy of EDT for psychiatric conditions, we conducted a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Twenty-eight studies published between 1978 and 2014 were included, encompassing 1,782 adult patients with mood, anxiety, personality, or mixed disorders. Across targeted outcome domains, medium-size between-groups effects (Cohens ds ranging from 0.39 to 0.65) favored EDT over inactive controls at posttreatment and in symptom measures at follow-up. We found no differences between EDT and active treatments (e.g., medication, cognitive-behavioral therapy, manualized supportive therapy) at posttreatment, but EDT outperformed supportive therapy at follow-up (d = 0.75). In terms of within-group effect sizes, EDT was associated with large improvements in general psychiatric symptoms (d = 1.11), depression (d = 1.33), and anxiety (d = 1.09) and with small to moderate gains in the areas of interpersonal problems (d = 0.55) and global functioning (d = 0.86). Small but significant effects suggested continued improvement between posttreatment and follow-up. Heterogeneity in pre-post effects was explored in subgroup analyses, which indicated that EDT might be most effective in depressive disorders and that individual EDT had larger effects compared with group treatment. In addition, EDT performed better in higher quality studies. We conclude that EDT is a promising treatment for psychiatric conditions in adults. Further high-quality studies evaluating contemporary versions of EDT in specific psychiatric conditions are warranted.

Therapists' view of therapeutic action in psychoanalytic psychotherapy with young adults.

Studying experienced therapists implicit theorizing may contribute to our understanding of what is helpful and what hinders treatment with particular patient populations. In this study, 16 therapists views of curative factors, hindering factors, and outcome were explored in 22 interviews conducted at termination of individual psychoanalytic psychotherapy with young adults. Grounded theory methodology was used to construct a tentative model of therapeutic action based on the therapists implicit knowledge. The results indicated that developing a close, safe and trusting relationship was viewed as the core curative factor in interaction with the patient making positive experiences outside the therapy setting and the therapist challenging and developing the patients thinking about the self. The therapeutic process was experienced as a joint activity resulting in the patient becoming a subject and acquiring an increasing capacity to think and process problems. The patients fear about close relationships was seen as hindering treatment and leading to core problems remaining. The model is discussed in relation to major theories of therapeutic action in the psychoanalytic discourse and previous research focusing on young adults view of curative and hindering factors in psychotherapy. Implications for practice and further research are suggested.

Patient Attachment to Therapist Rating Scale: development and psychometric properties.

Abstract Objective: To report on the development and initial psychometric properties of a new rating scale for patent-therapist attachment. Method: Seventy interviews from the Young Adult Psychotherapy Project (YAPP) were rated. Results: Excellent internal consistency (Cronbachs α > .90) was observed for all four subscales (Security, Deactivation, Hyperactivation, and Disorganization). Three subscales showed good inter-rater reliability (ICC > .60), while one (Hyperactivation) had poor (ICC < .40). Correlations with measures of alliance, mental representations, and symptom distress support the construct validity of the reliable subscales. Exploratory factor analysis indicated three underlying factors explaining 82% of the variance. Conclusions: The Patient Attachment to Therapist Rating Scale is a promising approach for assessing the quality of attachment to therapist from patient narratives. Future development should focus on improving the discrimination of the insecure subscales.

Secure Attachment to Therapist, Alliance, and Outcome in Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy With Young Adults

Using a novel approach to assess attachment to therapist from patient narratives (Patient Attachment to Therapist Rating Scale; PAT-RS), we investigated the relationships between secure attachment to therapist, patient-rated alliance, and outcome in a sample of 70 young adults treated with psychoanalytic psychotherapy. A series of linear mixed-effects models, controlling for length of therapy and therapist effects, indicated that secure attachment to therapist at termination was associated with improvement in symptoms, global functioning, and interpersonal problems. After controlling for the alliance, these relationships were maintained in terms of symptoms and global functioning. Further, for the follow-up period, we found a suppression effect indicating that secure attachment to therapist predicted continued improvement in global functioning, whereas the alliance predicted deterioration when both variables were modeled together. Although limited by the correlational design, this study suggests that the development of a secure attachment to therapist is associated with treatment gains as well as predictive of posttreatment improvement in functioning. Future research should investigate the temporal development of attachment to therapist and its interaction with alliance and outcome more closely. To ensure differentiation from patient-rated alliance, observer-based measurement of attachment to therapist should be considered.

Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy Trial Therapy : Effectiveness and Role of Unlocking the Unconscious

Abstract This study examined the effects of trial therapy interviews using intensive short-term dynamic psychotherapy with 500 mixed sample, tertiary center patients. Furthermore, we investigated whether the effect of trial therapy was larger for patients who had a major unlocking of the unconscious during the interview compared with those who did not. Outcome measures were the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) and the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (IIP), measured at baseline and at 1-month follow-up. Significant outcome effects were observed for both the BSI and the IIP with small to moderate preeffect/posteffect sizes, Cohens d = 0.52 and 0.23, respectively. Treatment effects were greater in patients who had a major unlocking of the unconscious compared with those who did not. The trial therapy interview appears to be beneficial, and its effects may relate to certain therapeutic processes. Further controlled research is warranted.

Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy for generalized anxiety disorder: A pilot effectiveness and process-outcome study

The objective of this study was to evaluate the clinical- and cost-effectiveness of Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP) for generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). We further aimed to examine if a key clinical process within the ISTDP framework, termed the level of mobilization of unprocessed complex emotions (MUCE), was related to outcome. The sample consisted of 215 adult patients (60.9% female) with GAD and comorbid conditions treated in a tertiary mental health outpatient setting. The patients were provided an average of 8.3 sessions of ISTDP delivered by 38 therapists. The level of MUCE in treatment was assessed from videotaped sessions by a rater blind to treatment outcome. Year-by-year healthcare costs were derived independently from government databases. Multilevel growth models indicated significant decreases in psychiatric symptoms and interpersonal problems during treatment. These gains were corroborated by reductions in healthcare costs that continued for 4xa0years post-treatment reaching normal population means. Further, we found that the in-treatment level of MUCE was associated with larger treatment effects, underlining the significance of emotional experiencing and processing in the treatment of GAD. We conclude that ISTDP appears to reduce symptoms and costs associated with GAD and that the ISTDP framework may be useful for understanding key therapeutic processes in this challenging clinical population. Controlled studies of ISTDP for GAD are warranted.

“It was hard work every session”: Therapists’ view of successful psychoanalytic treatments

ABSTRACT Objective: To explore therapists’ experiences of the therapeutic process in successful cases of psychoanalytic psychotherapy. Method: A two-stage, mixed-method design was used. Sixteen successful cases were drawn from a sample of 92 young adults in psychoanalytic psychotherapy according to Jacobson’s criteria for reliable and clinically significant improvement. Therapist interviews at baseline and termination were analyzed applying Inductive Thematic Analysis. Results: Three core themes emerged: Being Particularly Motivated to be This Patient’s Therapist, Maintaining a Safe and Attentive Therapeutic Position, and Assiduous Work Every Session. The therapists experienced positive feelings towards the patient from the outset of treatment and described active, relational work that included paying attention to incongruities in the patient’s self-presentation and being mindful of patient’s avoidant behavior. The therapist’s motivation and attentive position made it possible to balance support and challenge in the therapeutic relationship. Conclusions: Successful therapeutic work presupposes positive expectations, an active therapeutic stance and assiduous work session-by-session. Therapist expertise may involve the ability to mobilize and work effectively with patient-specific resources and obstacles from the beginning of treatment. In addition to identifying the characteristics and actions of effective therapists, research should also focus on processes emerging within effective therapeutic dyads. Clinical or methodological significance of this article: Our study indicates several factors that seem to characterize therapist expertise and can inform psychotherapy training. Successful therapeutic work presupposes positive expectations, an active therapeutic stance, courage to challenge the patient, and assiduous work session-by-session. Therapist expertise may involve the ability to mobilize and work effectively with patient-specific resources and obstacles from the beginning of treatment. In addition to identifying the characteristics and actions of effective therapists, research should also focus on processes emerging within effective therapeutic dyads.

Patients Affective Processes Within Initial Experiential Dynamic Therapy Sessions

Research has indicated that patients’ in-session experience of previously avoided affects may be important for effective psychotherapy. The aim of this study was to investigate patients’ in-session levels of affect experiencing in relation to their corresponding levels of insight, motivation, and inhibitory affects in initial Experiential Dynamic Therapy (EDT) sessions. Four hundred sixty-six 10-min video segments from 31 initial sessions were rated using the Achievement of Therapeutic Objectives Scale. A series of multilevel growth models, controlling for between-therapist variability, were estimated to predict patients’ adaptive affect experiencing (Activating Affects) across session segments. In line with our expectations, higher within-person levels of Insight and Motivation related to higher levels of Activating Affects per segment. Contrary to expectations, however, lower levels of Inhibition were not associated with higher levels of Activating Affects. Further, using a time-lagged model, we did not find that the levels of Insight, Motivation, or Inhibition during one session segment predicted Activating Affects in the next, possibly indicating that 10-min segments may be suboptimal for testing temporal relationships in affective processes. Our results suggest that, to intensify patients’ immediate affect experiencing in initial EDT sessions, therapists should focus on increasing insight into defensive patterns and, in particular, motivation to give them up. Future research should examine the impact of specific inhibitory affects more closely, as well as between-therapist variability in patients’ in-session adaptive affect experiencing.

Internet-based affect-focused psychodynamic therapy for social anxiety disorder: A randomized controlled trial with 2-year follow-up.

Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is associated with considerable individual suffering and societal costs. Although there is ample evidence for the efficacy of cognitive behavior therapy, recent studies suggest psychodynamic therapy may also be effective in treating SAD. Furthermore, Internet-based psychodynamic therapy (IPDT) has shown promising results for addressing mixed depression and anxiety disorders. However, no study has yet investigated the effects of IPDT specifically for SAD. This paper describes a randomized controlled trial testing the efficacy of a 10-week, affect-focused IPDT protocol for SAD, compared with a wait-list control group. Long-term effects were also estimated by collecting follow-up data, 6, 12, and 24 months after the end of therapy. A total of 72 individuals meeting diagnostic criteria for DSM–IV social anxiety disorder were included. The primary outcome was the self-report version of Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale. Mixed model analyses using the full intention-to-treat sample revealed a significant interaction effect of group and time, suggesting a larger effect in the treatment group than in the wait-list control. A between-group effect size Cohen’s d = 1.05 (95% [CI]: [0.62, 1.53]) was observed at termination. Treatment gains were maintained at the 2-year follow-up, as symptom levels in the treated group continued to decrease significantly. The findings suggest that Internet-based affect-focused psychodynamic therapy is a promising treatment for social anxiety disorder.