[Verbalization of the therapeutic relationship in focal-psychoanalytic and client-centered psychotherapy. A content analytic study from the Hamburg comparative brief psychotherapy experiment]

The present investigation emerged from the Hamburg Short Psychotherapy Comparison Experiment. Its aim was to compare psychodynamic, conflict-centred, time-limited psychotherapy (PT) to client-centred psychotherapy (CC) with regard to the direct and indirect verbalization of the therapeutic relationship--particularly of transference and resistance--for the purpose of investigating the congruity of theory and practice of the therapists involved. Transcriptions of 28 PT and 21 CC audio-recorded therapies were examined by means of a content analysis catalogue. The following (ascending) rank order in the frequency of verbalization of transference was found: CC-therapists, CC-patients, PT-patients, PT-therapists. The main differences are statistically significant. The contrary approach of the therapists probably conditions the differences found in the patients. Therapists in PT verbalised the occurrence of resistance in a much more frequent manner than their patients did. In CC resistance was verbalised only sporadically. These results confirm that the therapists involved acted in conformity with their respective theory.