Changes in clients' relational patterns with parents and therapist during psychodynamic psychotherapy: Their association and relation to treatment outcome

Maayan Abargil*, Hadas Wiseman, Refael Yonatan-Leus, Orya Tishby

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

Objective: The study aimed to explore how changes in clients' relational patterns during psychodynamic psychotherapy relate to treatment outcomes and therapy effectiveness. Method: Seventy clients receiving psychodynamic psychotherapy in a university counseling center were interviewed three times and filled out the OQ-45 questionnaire five times during therapy. We used the Core Conflictual Relationship Theme (CCRT) to study clients' relational patterns. Mixed models were used to assess the interaction between clients' CCRT intensity toward their parents and toward their therapists, treatment effectiveness, and treatment outcome. Results: First, we found that clients' relational patterns with their parents correlated with relational patterns with their therapists across several time points in therapy. Then, we found significant interactions, indicating that treatment effectiveness moderates the relationship between clients' CCRT intensity and treatment outcomes. Conclusions: The findings suggest that the transference phenomenon is related to therapy outcomes differently in effective and less-effective therapies, depending on the transference intensity. Further research is needed to expand knowledge about the intensity of transference and its possible impact on treatment choice and management.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2422-2438
Number of pages17
JournalJournal of Clinical Psychology
Volume79
Issue number10
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 2023

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors. Journal of Clinical Psychology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.

Keywords

  • CCRT
  • clinical psychology
  • effective therapy
  • interpersonal relationships
  • transference

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