OBJECTIVE Identification of pretreatment patient characteristics predictive of psychotherapy outcome could help to guide treatment choices. This study evaluates patients' initial level of immature defense style as a predictor of the outcome of short-term versus long-term psychotherapy. METHOD In the Helsinki Psychotherapy Study, 326 adult outpatients with mood or anxiety disorder were randomi...

The authors address psychodynamic therapies, particularly transference-focused psychotherapy (TFP), in the treatment of patients who present with non-suicidal self-injury. In doing so, they briefly discuss various psychodynamic approaches with empirical evidence for their effectiveness. They describe TFP, including its treatment rationale, putative change mechanisms, and outcome research. They ...

Treatment manuals are becoming a requirement for conducting quality psychotherapy research. What the field lacks, however, are reliable, valid, and cost-efficient instruments that can be used to measure a wide variety of prescribed therapeutic techniques. This article describes the development and use of a new instrument, the Interpretive and Supportive Technique Scale (ISTS). It is designed to...

OBJECTIVE The purpose of the current study was to disentangle within- and between-case variability in the adherence-outcome association. Specifically, we expected that increases or decreases in within-case adherence ratings would be positively associated with therapy outcomes. METHOD Seventy clients (74% women, 26% men; Mage = 29.8 years, SD = 11.00) received psychodynamic psychotherapy at a ...

The advent of safer psychopharmacological agents with less troublesome side effects, along with increasing knowledge of the broad array of syndromes treatable with medication, have led to a vast expansion in treatment options available to the psychiatrist. Studies and clinical experience demonstrate that employing psychotropic medication in combination with psychoanalysis or psychodynamic psych...

An informed consent to be part of the study was obtained from all participants. The study was authorised by the Bioethical Committee at the Jagiellonian University Medical College No. KBET/26/B/2013. The study was funded with a grant by the Jagiellonian University Medical College No. K/DSC/002111. Changes in ego strength in patients with neurotic and personality disorders treated with a short-t...

Few studies have investigated the outcomes and process of psychodynamic psychotherapies with children. Among the limited number of studies, some only paid attention to play and verbal production, as they are fundamental aspects in assessing the psychotherapy process. This paper focuses on an empirical investigation of a 3-year, once-a-week psychodynamic psychotherapy carried out with a 3-year-o...

Few studies have concerned the relation between Comprehensive System (CS; Exner, 1991, 1993, 2003) Rorschach variables, and suitability for psychodynamic psychotherapy. In this study, I predicted correlations between 17 rationally selected CS variables and suitability for psychotherapy as represented by ratings of Dynamic Capacity and Ego Strength. The participants were 52 psychotherapy applica...

Complex trauma describes that category of severe, chronic interpersonal trauma usually originating in the formative years of a child. In the adult, this can result in global dissociative difficulties across areas of cognitive, affective, somatic, and behavioral functions. Targeting this field of traumatic pathology, this article reviews the contributions and developments within one broad approa...

BACKGROUND First-episode psychosis intervention may improve the course and outcome of schizophrenic disorders. AIMS To describe the Danish National Schizophrenia Project and to measure the outcome of two different forms of intervention after 1 year, compared with standard treatment. METHOD A prospective, prospective, longitudinal, multicentre investigation included 562 patients, consecutive...