Blog
The Psychotherapy Practice Research Network (PPRNet) blog began in 2013 in response to psychotherapy clinicians, researchers, and educators who expressed interest in receiving regular information about current practice-oriented psychotherapy research. It offers a monthly summary of two or three published psychotherapy research articles. Each summary is authored by Dr. Tasca and highlights practice implications of selected articles. Past blogs are available in the archives. This content is only available in English.
This month...
…I blog about psychotherapy for adult depression, efficacy of CBT for perfectionism, and a measure of ruptures in the therapeutic alliance.
Type of Research
Topics
- ALL Topics (clear)
- Adherance
- Alliance and Therapeutic Relationship
- Anxiety Disorders
- Attachment
- Attendance, Attrition, and Drop-Out
- Client Factors
- Client Preferences
- Cognitive Therapy (CT) and Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
- Combination Therapy
- Common Factors
- Cost-effectiveness
- Depression and Depressive Symptoms
- Efficacy of Treatments
- Empathy
- Feedback and Progress Monitoring
- Group Psychotherapy
- Illness and Medical Comorbidities
- Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT)
- Long-term Outcomes
- Medications/Pharmacotherapy
- Miscellaneous
- Neuroscience and Brain
- Outcomes and Deterioration
- Personality Disorders
- Placebo Effect
- Practice-Based Research and Practice Research Networks
- Psychodynamic Therapy (PDT)
- Resistance and Reactance
- Self-Reflection and Awareness
- Suicide and Crisis Intervention
- Termination
- Therapist Factors
- Training
- Transference and Countertransference
- Trauma and/or PTSD
- Treatment Length and Frequency
September 2023
Clients’ Negative Experience of Psychotherapy
Vybíral, Z., Ogles, B.M., Řiháček, T., Urbancová, B., & Gocieková, V. (2023) Negative experiences in psychotherapy from clients’ perspective: A qualitative meta-analysis, Psychotherapy Research, DOI: 10.1080/10503307.2023.2226813
Psychotherapy research tends to focus on positive patient outcomes – or patients who get better. More recently, psychotherapy researchers have focused on negative outcomes and client experiences of negative events in psychotherapy. Approximately 5% of clients get worse, 20% of clients in clinical trials drop out, and about 66% of clients do not recover by the end of treatment. All of this suggests that some clients have negative experiences during therapy that may interfere with their progress. One can learn a lot from studying processes that do not go well. Potentially, therapists can learn what not to do, how to avoid pitfalls, how to recognize when the client has a negative experience, and how to repair an error. In this qualitative meta-analysis, Vybiral and colleagues reviewed 51 studies that recorded client statements from post-treatment interviews. Through qualitative analysis, the authors reported four major clusters representing clients' negative experiences, specific therapist behaviours within each cluster, and the percentage of studies in which clients noted these specific behaviors. The first cluster was Therapist Misbehaviors including therapists not listening (17% of studies), therapists not understanding (37%), therapists perceived incompetence (37%), therapists devaluing clients (56%), therapists judging (33%), and therapists using the client for their own benefit (27%). The second cluster was Hindering Aspects of the Therapeutic Relationship including therapists’ lack of empathy (44%), lack of trust in the therapist (21%), clients experiencing confusion (23%), and poor interpersonal match (25%). The third cluster was Poor Treatment Fit including negative evaluation of the procedures or practical aspects of treatment (33%), unmet client expectations about therapy (33%), lack of fit with the interventions (65%), and dissatisfaction with how therapy ended (50%). The fourth cluster was Negative Impacts of Treatment including that therapy was unhelpful (46%), that problems increased (37%), fearing the therapy process (50%), loss of hope (23%), unpleasant feelings during therapy (60%), negative thoughts caused by therapy (35%).
Practice Implications
This research indicates that the qualities of the therapist, the therapeutic relationship, the treatment provided, and the outcomes are key to clients’ perceptions of their therapy experience. A therapist's positive regard, genuineness, and empathy have long been considered necessary conditions for successful therapy. In addition, there is substantial research on the importance of the therapist and client developing a collaborative agreement on the goals of therapy and how therapy proceeds, that is – aspects of the therapeutic alliance. Therapists also must keep in mind that clients must develop realistic expectations of therapy like its duration, what gets discussed, and how therapy proceeds. Expectations are well-known predictors of client outcomes. Finally, therapists must monitor patient outcomes and processes, and modify what they are doing if the client experiences a precipitous increase in symptoms or a decrease in the alliance from one session to the next.
Preparing Patients for Psychotherapy
Swift, J. K., Penix, E. A., & Li, A. (2023, March 13). A meta-analysis of the effects of role induction in psychotherapy. Psychotherapy. Advance online publication. https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pst0000475
Many patients struggle with the start of psychotherapy. In fact, many patients drop out of psychotherapy within the first few sessions likely because of anxiety or their expectations not being met. One way of helping patients start therapy on the right foot is to prepare them for what to expect and how therapy will proceed. Patient preparation, also known as role induction, is the process of providing patients with education for psychotherapy to ensure they have accurate expectations of their role, their therapist’s role, a rationale for treatment activities, and approximate treatment duration. This discussion with patients often occurs early in therapy and sometimes in the initial assessment session. Therapists might provide the information on their websites, on paper when the patient comes to the first session, or verbally during the session. In this meta-analysis, Swift and colleagues did a systematic review of the research on patient preparation and found 17 studies on the topic that met their criteria. Patients who received role induction had more positive behaviours during the subsequent session (accurate knowledge, appropriate expectations, higher satisfaction) compared to patients who did not get the preparation (d = 0.64, 95% CI [0.25, 1.03], p < .01, r = .31). Patients who received pre-therapy preparation were 1.64 times less likely to drop out of therapy than those who were not given the preparation (95% CI [1.06, 2.53], p = .03). The overall effect on post-treatment outcomes (symptom reduction) was statistically significant, such that those who received the role induction were more likely to have better outcomes than those who did not (d = 0.33, 95% CI [0.11, 0.55], p < .01, r = .16), although the effect was small. The largest effect occurred when role induction focused on the expected roles of the patient and therapist and on the duration of therapy. Also, larger effects occurred when therapists provided patients with the information in person and verbally rather than in a written format.
Practice Implications
It might be useful to assess the patient’s knowledge of psychotherapy, including what they expect their roles to be, what the therapist’s role is, how treatment will proceed, and the expected duration of treatment. This information might lead to a discussion about what to expect and what is realistic in therapy and this discussion should occur at the very start of therapy. A therapist might provide more information on those areas in which a patient may misunderstand or may have unrealistic expectations. Regardless, it is a good idea to discuss patient and therapist roles and to provide a rationale for the treatment. Preparing patients will have a greater impact if therapists provide the information as part of a verbal discussion that is personalized to the patient and is culturally appropriate.
April 2023
Preparing Patients for Psychotherapy
Swift, J. K., Penix, E. A., & Li, A. (2023). A meta-analysis of the effects of role induction in psychotherapy. Psychotherapy. Advance online publication.
Starting psychotherapy can be hard for some patients likely because they must face the unknown about themselves, the therapy process, and the therapist. Some patients might think that they must behave in a certain way, or they may have expectations of what might occur in therapy or about outcomes. Those expectations might be unrealistic, or they may be different from what their therapist intends. One road to success in therapy is for patients to know how to effectively engage with their psychotherapist. Role induction might be one means of preparing patients therapy and could include several activities. First, establishing rapport is key so that the patient and therapist experience an empathic bond. Second, providing an explanation of psychotherapy might include discussing why psychotherapy can be effective, what change the patient might experience, and how the therapy will work from session to session. Third, describing the roles of patient and therapist is key, including encouraging the patient to be open and honest, and discussing how the therapist might behave (directive/less directive, emotion/cognitive focused, and present/past focused). Fourth, anticipating challenges for the patient to complete therapy may also be useful to help patients deal with frustrations or thoughts of dropping out. In this meta-analysis, Swift and colleagues examined 17 studies in which patients who received a role induction were compared to those who were treated as usual. The overall effect of role induction on psychotherapy dropout was significant, OR = 1.64, 95% CI [1.06, 2.53], p = .03. Patients who were prepared were 1.64 times less likely to drop out than patients who were not prepared. The overall effect on posttreatment outcomes was also significantly in favor of role induction, d = 0.33, 95% CI [0.11, 0.55], p < .01, although the effect was small. In moderator analyses, preparing patients for therapy was more effective for older patients, when done by more experienced therapists, and when provided verbally as opposed to in writing.
Practice Implications
The research suggests that preparing patients for psychotherapy by establishing a relational bond, providing information on how therapy will proceed, and providing information on the roles of the patient and therapist can be useful to reduce dropouts and improve patient outcomes. It may be helpful for therapists to assess what a patient knows about psychotherapy and their expectations of theirs and therapists’ roles. Therapists can use this information to personalize the preparation for patients so that it helps them to understand patient and therapist roles, rationale for treatment, and how therapy works. The assessment may also help therapists to adapt therapy to patient preferences when feasible. Patient preparation works best if done verbally and personalized to a patient rather than giving the patient a generic written handout or directing them to a web page.
Short-term Psychodynamic Psychotherapy for Depression
Wienicke, F.J., Beutel, M.E., Zwerenz, R. et al. (2023). Efficacy and moderators of short-term psychodynamic psychotherapy for depression: A systematic review and meta-analysis of individual participant data, Clinical Psychology Review.
Depression affects 264 million adults worldwide making it one of the most prevalent mental health conditions. Depression affects quality of life, health care costs, and mortality making it a leading cause of disability in the world. Previous meta-analyses have looked at psychological treatments for depression and found CBT, short term psychodynamic psychotherapy (STPP), interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT), and others are effective in reducing depressive symptoms among adult patients. STPP, for example, works by focusing on the underlying personality factors of the patient (defense mechanisms, emotion regulation, interpersonal style, self-concept, attachment) that may lead to depressive experiences. There are very few studies that look specifically at what patient characteristics are associated with better outcomes for a specific type of psychotherapy. The challenge with such patient level analyses is that most researchers report aggregated individual patient data at the study level thus possibly obscuring important variability among patients. In this meta-analysis, Wienicke and colleagues identified 13 studies of STPP compared to a control group. The authors were able to get 11 of the study authors to provide individual patient data of 771 participants. This allowed Wienicke and colleagues to do a meta-analysis of individual patient data. At post-treatment, STPP was significantly more efficacious than control conditions on measures of depression (d = -0.62, 95%CI [-0.76, - 0.47], p <.001), anxiety (d = -0.29, 95%CI [-0.45, -0.12], p <.001), general psychopathology (d = -0.38, 95%CI [-0.59, -0.17], p <.001), and quality of life (d = 0.44, 95%CI [0.23, 0.64], p <.001). At follow-up, STPP was again superior to control conditions on depression outcomes (d = -0.21, 95%CI [-0.38, -0.05], p = .011), but not more efficacious on other outcomes. When the authors looked at individual patient characteristics related to outcomes, they found that length of the current depressive episode was found to moderate post-treatment depression levels, such that STPP was more efficacious for participants reporting longer rather than shorter episode durations (d = -0.006, 95%CI [-0.01, -0.001], p = .002).
Practice Implications
Like what was reported in previous meta-analyses, STPP was efficacious to reduce depressive symptoms in the shorter and longer term. Patients with a longer duration or chronicity of depressive symptoms experienced the most benefit from STPP. It is likely that individuals with longer episode durations have depressive symptoms that are more influenced by their underlying personality vulnerabilities resulting in more complex working alliances and transference feelings with therapists. Training in psychodynamic principles of treatment may allow therapists to identify and work with these therapeutic relational aspects if necessary.
March 2023
Psychotherapy for Borderline Personality Disorder
Leichsenring, F., Heim, N., Leweke, F., Spitzer, C., Steinert, C., Kernberg, O.F. (2023). Borderline personality disorder: A review. Journal of the American Medical Association, 329(8):670–679.
Borderline personality disorder (BPD) occurs in 0.7% to 2.7% of adults and has significant negative impacts on social, vocational, and psychological functioning (inability to hold a job, high rates of comorbid medical and mental health problems, high rates of suicide). Patients with BPD can experience intense anxiety and depressive affect and impulsive behavior. Comorbid rates of depression, anxiety, PTSD, or substance use are very high (30% to 85%). Rates of BPD are slightly higher for women (3%) than for men (2.7%). The etiology of BPD might include genetic factors that interact with adverse childhood events like sexual and physical abuse. BPD is characterized by sudden shifts between extremes of idealization (extremely positive views of self and others) and devaluation (extremely negative views of self and others). These shifts have a significant negative impact on self-image, emotion regulation, and interpersonal relationships. In this extensive review, Leichsenring and colleagues discuss the clinical management and psychotherapy of patients with BPD. A series of meta-analyses that included 75 randomized controlled trials of 4507 patients indicated that psychotherapy is efficacious in treating symptoms of BPD (SMD = -0.52 [95% CI: -0.70 to -0.33]). The meta-analysis looked at 17 studies that compared different forms of psychotherapy (DBT, psychodynamic, CBT, eclectic) and found no difference in the efficacy of these treatments. Stronger evidence was available for DBT and for psychodynamic therapy relative to usual care. DBT focuses on increasing a patient’s motivation and to identify problem solving strategies to help regulate emotions and interpersonal relationships. Psychodynamic therapy emphasizes identifying recurring patterns of behaviors related to self and others, exploring defense mechanisms related to avoidance, and discussing past experiences that influenced current problems. Despite the overall efficacy of psychotherapy for BPD, almost half of patients do not benefit from treatment. Although pharmacotherapy might be useful to reduce comorbid symptoms of depression and anxiety, the research suggests that medications are not effective in reducing symptoms of BPD.
Practice Implications
The treatment of patients with BPD is complicated by the interpersonal impact of the disorder on the therapist and on the therapeutic relationship. Often therapists might be embedded in the patient’s relational patterns of idealization and devaluation (“all good” and “all bad”) that can strain the therapeutic relationship. Sometimes therapists might have strong personal reactions to such patients (i.e., experience countertransference) which might manifest as anti-therapeutic behaviors on the part of the therapist (over- or under-involvement with the patient) which can be stressful. Leichsenring and colleagues make recommendations to help therapists manage the patient-clinician relationship such as: setting clear boundaries while maintaining empathy, developing and maintaining a therapeutic alliance including setting realistic goals, avoiding stigmatizing the patient as “difficult”, collaborating and communicating with other treating clinicians to avoid splitting (one as “all good” and the other as “all bad”), being aware of and managing one’s own feelings and reactions to the patient (countertransference), and using one’s knowledge of the patient’s biographical information (history of abuse) to help to understand the patient’s strong emotional reactions.
February 2023
Cognitive Behavior Therapy vs. Control Conditions and Other Treatments
Cuijpers, P., Miguel, C., Harrer, M., Plessen, C. Y., Ciharova, M., Ebert, D., & Karyotaki, E. (2023). Cognitive behavior therapy vs. control conditions, other psychotherapies, pharmacotherapies and combined treatment for depression: A comprehensive meta-analysis including 409 trials with 52,702 patients. World Psychiatry, 22, 105–115.
Depression is a highly prevalent mental disorder, with about 280 million people worldwide who have the disorder. Several evidence-based treatments are available for depression, including pharmacotherapies and psychotherapies. Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) is the most researched type of psychotherapy for depression. To date there are 409 trials with over 52,00 patients. In this study, Cuijpers and colleagues conduct the largest meta-analysis of CBT versus control conditions (treatment as usual [TAU], no treatment, other active psychotherapies, and pharmacotherapy). Although early trials of CBT were of low quality (small sample sizes, high risk of bias), the quality of studies have improved over time. In this meta-analysis Cuijpers and colleagues found that CBT had a large to moderate effect compared to TAU or to no treatment (g=0.79; 95% CI: 0.70-0.89), suggesting that CBT is better than receiving no or limited treatment. These results were stable up to one year follow-up. One would have to treat 4.7 patients with CBT to see improvement in one patient relative to no or limited treatment. CBT was compared to other active treatments in 87 trials. CBT was no more effective than other psychotherapies such that the average difference was miniscule (g=0.06; 95% CI: 0-0.12). One would have to treat 63 patients with CBT for one patient to receive a better outcome relative to another psychotherapy. However, if differences did emerge between CBT and other psychotherapies, they were not reliable. The effects of CBT did not differ significantly from those of pharmacotherapies (anti-depressant medications) at the short term, but the effects of CBT were significantly larger than pharmacotherapies at 6–12-month follow-up (g=0.34; 95% CI: 0.09-0.58). However, these follow-up findings also were not reliable. Combined treatment of CBT plus anti-depressant medications was more effective than pharmacotherapies alone at the short (g=0.51; 95% CI: 0.19-0.84) and long term (g=0.32; 95% CI: 0.09-0.55), but combined treatment was not more effective than CBT alone at either time point.
Practice Implications
The authors concluded that CBT is effective in the treatment of depression compared to no or limited treatment in the short and longer term. Although CBT gets the lion’s share of attention in the psychotherapy literature, there is no evidence that it is more effective than any other form of psychotherapy or antidepressant medication in the short term. There is evidence that combined CBT and medications may be more helpful than medications alone for depression.