Abstract

CASTANEIRAS, Claudia et al. A qualitative study of change in obsessive compulsive disorder: a qualitative study of the impact of cognitive treatmente on the subject experience of patients. Rev. bras.ter. cogn. [online]. 2009, vol.5, n.1, pp. 77-97. ISSN 1808-5687.

This qualitative study explores the impact of a cognitive therapy program on the subjective experience of patients suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The accounts given by patients were compared with the results obtained from quantitative measures of symptom improvement. A distinction is made between the impact of treatment on patients’ behavior and on their lived experience. An individual’s experience is seen as a synthesis of his or her mental states (internal representations) expressed through metacognitive processes. Most of the patients organized their subjective experience of change in terms of improvement, not recovery. This was consistent with reduced scores on the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) and Obsessive Intrusive Thoughts Inventory (INPIOs). We conclude that all the patients’ stories showed a positive evaluation of their therapeutic process, irrespective of quantitative assessment results. Patients tended to describe changes more in terms of symptoms rather than in terms of experience. The advantages and limitations of using qualitative and quantitative methodologies in this context are also discussed

Keywords : Obsessive compulsive disorder; Subjective experience of psychotherapy; Behavior; Experience.

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