An Exploration of Intervention Augmentation in a Single Case

Area of Science:

• Clinical Psychology
• Psychotherapy Research

Background:

• Client-specific process-outcome relationships necessitate tailored interventions.
• Current therapeutic approaches require refinement for individual client needs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate augmenting a standard treatment protocol with "off protocol" relaxation methods.
• To utilize routine outcome information for guiding shared decision-making in therapy.
• To analyze the impact of tailored interventions on a client with generalized anxiety and comorbid depressive disorders.

Main Methods:

• A naturalistic single-case analysis employing intensive case study methods.
• Transdiagnostic cognitive-behavioral therapy (TCBT) was administered.
• Routine anxiety and depression symptom and functioning scales were completed pre-session.
• Time series analyses were conducted on symptom measures.

Main Results:

• Significant linear decreases in anxiety and depression from baseline to posttreatment.
• The introduction of relaxation methods significantly impacted the course of anxiety symptom change.
• Demonstrated feasibility of integrating routine outcome assessment into clinical practice.

Conclusions:

• Routine outcome assessment effectively informs intervention augmentation for individual clients.
• Regular assessment is crucial for identifying clients who may benefit from alternative strategies.
• Personalized therapeutic adjustments enhance treatment efficacy.