The relationship of process to outcome in brief experiential psychotherapy for chronic pain

Six adult females with active rheumatoid arthritis were treated with a 10-session course of focused Gestalt Psychotherapy with the intent of assessing the relationship between key psychotherapy processes and both session and final outcome. Results suggested that high levels of patient participation were related to reduced patient distress, while high ratings of both session depth and session smoothness were related to increased positive feelings at the end of sessions. However, these session results did not generalize to final treatment outcome.