Abstract

SERRALTA, Fernanda Barcellos et al. How change occurs in psychotherapy? An empirical study of a brief psychotherapy process. Psicol. clin. [online]. 2016, vol.28, n.1, pp.183-200. ISSN 0103-5665.

This study aims at describing the psychotherapeutic process of a Brief Psychodynamic Psychotherapy case and to examine the relationship between process variables and treatment course. The case is of a patient with depressive symptoms and somatic complaints treated by an experienced psychotherapist. For the therapeutic process evaluation, all treatment sessions (n=11) were rated with the Psychotherapy Process Q-Set (PQS). The means of PQS in the entire treatment were sorted to identify the most and the least characteristic items of the process. To examine which variables of the therapist, of the patient, and of the interaction have changed over the course of treatment, the PQS items were correlated with the session number. The process' general characteristics are consistent with the assumption of a supportive-expressive continuum in psychodynamic psychotherapies. As the process progressed, it was noticed that the therapist adopted a more supportive and less expressive attitude, and that patient became more autonomous. The complementary roles of the dyad associated with technical flexibility seem to contribute to the observed changes.

Keywords : Brief Psychodynamic Psychotherapy; Psychotherapeutic process; Psychotherapy Process Q-Set; Systematic Case Study.

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