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Personality Functioning Improvement during Psychotherapy Is Associated with an Enhanced Capacity for Affect
Simon Kempe1, Werner Köpp1, Lutz Wittmann1
1Department of Psychology, International Psychoanalytic University, Stromstraße 1, 10555 Berlin, Germany.
Brain Sciences
|May 25, 2024
Summary
Psychotherapy patients with impaired personality functioning showed improved affect regulation in dreams as their condition improved. This suggests dream content can reflect progress in personality functioning during therapy.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Psychotherapy Research
- Dream Analysis
Background:
- Clinical observations link psychotherapy progress to changes in dream content for patients with impaired personality functioning (IPF).
- Quantitative studies on this link are limited.
- Affect regulation is a key concept in personality functioning and psychodynamic dream theory.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if improved personality functioning during psychotherapy correlates with enhanced affect regulation in dreams.
- To provide quantitative evidence for the relationship between personality change and dream content alterations.
Main Methods:
- A longitudinal study analyzed 94 dream reports from 10 patients with initial IPF.
- Dream reports were collected from the first and last thirds of long-term psychotherapy.
- Personality functioning was assessed using Scales of Psychological Capacities, and affect regulation in dreams was measured with the Zurich Dream Process Coding System.
Main Results:
- Patients showed significantly increased affect regulation in dreams, observed in dream element complexity, affective involvement of the dream ego, and flexibility in regulating safety/involvement dynamics.
- These improvements were more pronounced in patients with greater gains in personality functioning.
Conclusions:
- Decreased impairment of personality functioning during psychotherapy is associated with enhanced affect regulation in dreams.
- Dream content analysis can serve as a valuable tool for assessing treatment progress in clinical practice.
Keywords:
Zurich Dream Process Coding Systemaffect regulationdreamingpersonality changepersonality functioningMore Related Videos
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