Preliminary Results Concerning the Effectiveness of Body-Psychotherapies in Outpatient Settings A Muli-Center Study in Germany and Switzerland

This preliminary report about an ongoing multi-center evaluation study of body-psychotherapies evaluates the effectiveness of routine applications of body-psychotherapy (phase IV according to Linden 1989) in outpatient settings. Out of 38 German and Swiss member institutions of the European Association for Body-Psychotherapy (EABP) 8 are participating in this study. The Swiss institutes among them are also members of the Schweizer Charta für Psychotherapie. At 3 points of measurement (at the beginning, after 6 months and at the end of therapy) established questionnaires (e.g. BAI, BDI, SCL-90-R, IIP-D) were answered by patients. Catamnestic data will be obtained 1 year after termination of therapy. Patients in body-psychotherapeutic treatment (n=157) are compared to other outpatient psychotherapeutic patients with regard to sociodemographic data, level of impairment and psychopathology. After six months of therapy (n=78) patients have significantly improved with small to moderate intraclass effect sizes. After two years of treatment, large effect sizes are reached in all scales. However, the data base presently available for this latter result is not substantial enough yet (n=21). The authors interpret these results as supporting the claim of body-psychotherapists to effectively contribute to the field of psychotherapy. The results are an encouragement for more specific research in the field.