The additional value of self-reflection and feedback on therapy outcome: a pilot study.

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Clinical Psychology
• Psychotherapy Research

Background:

• Psychotherapy research historically focused on specific techniques, but common factors like therapeutic alliance are increasingly recognized for their importance.
• Routine Process Monitoring (RPM) is an approach that uses ongoing feedback to improve common factors in therapy.
• RPM aims to enhance the therapeutic alliance and address countertransference, potentially improving treatment outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of routine process monitoring on psychotherapy outcomes.
• To examine changes in therapeutic alliance and its correlation with patient-reported outcomes and countertransference.
• To assess the role of common factors in psychotherapy effectiveness.

Main Methods:

• A study involving 131 adult patients undergoing psychotherapy.
• Utilized the Session Rating Scale (SRS) for therapeutic alliance, Impact Message Inventory-Circumplex (IMI-CS) for countertransference, and Outcome Rating Scale (ORS) for outcomes.
• Instruments were administered at multiple stages throughout the psychotherapy sessions.

Main Results:

• Patients reported significant improvements in outcomes (ORS) from T1 to T2.
• A significant increase in therapeutic alliance strength (SRS) was observed between T2 and T3.
• Positive correlations were found between SRS scores and "friendly" positions on IMI-CS, and negative correlations with "submissive" positions.

Conclusions:

• Patients perceive improvements in therapy and attribute some of this to a more positive therapeutic alliance in later stages.
• Findings underscore the value of patient engagement and therapist self-reflection in psychotherapy.
• The study supports the utility of deliberate practice and RPM in enhancing therapeutic outcomes, suggesting avenues for future research.