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Changes in defensive functioning in completed psychoanalyses: the penn psychoanalytic treatment collection.
Carmella A Roy1, Christopher J Perry, Lester Luborsky
1McGill University Faculty of Medicine at the Institute of Community and Family Psychiatry, S.M.B.D. Jewish General Hospital. carmella.roy@mcgill.ca
Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association
|June 12, 2009
Summary
Psychoanalysis patients showed significant improvement in defense mechanisms, a key aspect of dynamic functioning. This study provides initial evidence for lasting personality changes following psychoanalytic treatment.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Psychiatry
- Psychoanalysis
Background:
- Psychoanalytic theory posits that successful treatment leads to improved dynamic functioning.
- Defense mechanisms are a crucial dynamic aspect of personality functioning.
- Previous research on the Penn Psychoanalytic Treatment Collection focused on general functioning.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether patients completing psychoanalysis demonstrate improvement in their defense mechanisms.
- To provide empirical evidence for trait-like changes in dynamic personality functioning post-psychoanalysis.
Main Methods:
- A naturalistic study analyzing 17 subjects from the Penn Psychoanalytic Treatment Collection.
- Assessment of defense mechanisms using tape-recorded, completed psychoanalyses.
- Calculation of pre-post effect size for overall defensive functioning (ODF).
Main Results:
- A large and statistically significant pre-post effect size (.76, p = .01) for change in ODF was observed.
- 71% of subjects demonstrated improvement in their overall defensive functioning.
- Improvement rates in ODF were comparable to those found for general functioning in the same sample.
Conclusions:
- This study offers the first empirical support for trait-like changes in dynamic personality functioning after psychoanalysis.
- Findings suggest that psychoanalysis can lead to measurable improvements in defense mechanisms.
- Further confirmation through randomized controlled trials with homogeneous samples is recommended.
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