Understanding the relationship between transference interpretation and outcome in the context of other variables

Transference interpretation has traditionally been regarded as a powerful distinguishing feature of dynamically oriented psychotherapy. The failure of early studies to demonstrate its impact on outcome may, in part, have been due to limitations in methodology and conceptual models. A recently completed clinical trial of short-term individual psychotherapy has provided evidence of associations between two aspects of transference interpretation and outcome. The two aspects were concentration (frequency expressed as a proportion of interventions) and correspondence (congruence with a patient formulation). The nature of the associations varied as a function of the patient characteristic known as quality of object relations. Also important was the therapeutic alliance. When the variables were considered together in a multivariate model and their relationships examined by means of multiple regression, substantial amounts of outcome variance were accounted for. The evidence from previous and recent studies suggests that technique can have an important impact on outcome in short-term individual psychotherapy. It also indicates that the impact of technique should be viewed in relation to patient and relationship variables.