Therapeutic Improvement in Single-Session Therapy: Innovative Moments as Change Markers

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Mental Health
• Therapeutic Interventions

Background:

• Rising demand for mental health services necessitates brief, effective therapies.
• High dropout rates and long waiting lists impede access to traditional psychotherapy.
• Online narrative single-session therapy (NSST) offers a potential solution.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze the presence and impact of change markers, termed innovative moments (IMs), in NSST.
• To investigate IMs in NSST and a follow-up interview one month later.
• To correlate IMs with therapy outcomes, distinguishing between good and poor outcomes based on distress reduction.

Main Methods:

• Utilized the innovative moments (IMs) coding system to identify and categorize change markers.
• Coded IMs in both NSST transcripts and a subsequent change interview.
• Categorized therapy outcomes based on pre-session distress levels compared to distress one month post-therapy.

Main Results:

• Clients with good outcomes produced more IMs during NSST.
• Level 3 IMs, the most complex, were absent in NSST but emerged in the change interview.
• A positive correlation was found between decreased distress and the emergence of Level 3 IMs in the change interview.

Conclusions:

• Innovative moments (IMs) are present in NSST, similar to traditional psychotherapy.
• The evolution of IMs from NSST to the change interview indicates sustained therapeutic change in successful cases.
• The findings support the effectiveness of NSST and highlight the significance of complex change markers in predicting positive outcomes.