Corrective relational experiences in psychodynamic-interpersonal psychotherapy: Antecedents, types, and consequences

In posttherapy interviews with 31 clients who had recently terminated from individual open-ended psychodynamic-interpersonal psychotherapy, 18 reported having had at least 1 corrective relational experience (CRE) during psychotherapy, whereas 13 did not report any CREs. CREs typically occurred in the context of therapeutic relationships that were primarily positive but also had minor difficulties. Therapists typically facilitated CREs by identifying or questioning client behavior patterns and conveying trustworthiness. Corrective shifts for clients typically involved a new understanding of the therapy experience and variantly involved gaining a new understanding of behavior patterns. Consequences generally included improvements in the therapy relationship and intrapersonal well-being. Qualitatively, the 13 non-CRE clients more frequently reported wishing the therapist's theoretical orientation was a better match than did the 18 CRE clients. Quantitatively, the CRE clients rated themselves as having more interpersonal problems at intake on the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems-32 (Barkham, Hardy, & Startup, 1996), had marginally significant improvements in interpersonal functioning over time, rated their therapy alliances higher on the Working Alliance Inventory-Short Revised (Hatcher & Gillaspy, 2006) midtherapy, and rated their therapy alliances higher over time compared with the non-CRE clients. Implications for practice and research are discussed.