Corresponding instability of patient and therapist process ratings in psychodynamic psychotherapies

The transference relationship within the psychodynamic process was conceived of as a self-organizing system under the assumption that patient and therapist instability trajectories prove similar. Nine patients and therapists each rated their experience of the therapeutic interaction (Intrex, SASB) over the course of therapy (29 to 35 sessions). A measure of instability was calculated for these ratings across the resulting time series. The degree of synchronicity (correlation) and the correspondence of instability levels (measure of difference) were calculated for each patient-therapist dyad. Destabilization of ratings was highly synchronous and the level of destabilization corresponded highly in successful therapies. Destabilization in non-successful cases showed low synchronicity and/or therapist ratings proved more instable. The results suggest that systematically including a measure of instability and associations between patient and therapist ratings may prove fruitful in process research.