Notwithstanding the many methodological advances made in the field of psychotherapy research, at present a metatheoretical, school-independent framework to explain psychotherapy change processes taking into account their dynamic and complex nature is still lacking. Over the last years, several authors have suggested that a dynamic systems (DS) approach might provide such a framework. In the present paper, we review the main characteristics of a DS approach to psychotherapy. After an overview of the general principles of the DS approach, we describe the extent to which psychotherapy can be considered as a self-organizing open complex system, whose developmental change processes are described in terms of a dialectic dynamics between stability and change over time. Empirical evidence in support of this conceptualization is provided and discussed. Finally, we propose a research design strategy for the empirical investigation of psychotherapy from a DS approach, together with a research case example. We conclude that a DS approach may provide a metatheoretical, school-independent framework allowing us to constructively rethink and enhance the way we conceptualize and empirically investigate psychotherapy. (PsycINFO Database Record

La psicoterapia può essere descritta facendo riferimento a due dimensioni principali: l’esito (ovvero gli effetti di un trattamento) e il processo (ovvero ciò che accade nel corso di un trattamento). Nelle sue prime fasi, lo studio empirico della psicoterapia si è concentrato principalmente, anche se non esclusivamente, su questi due aspetti distinti, dando origine a ciò che prende il nome di ricerca sull’esito e ricerca sul processo psicoterapeutico. In questo periodo, che va dai primi anni ’50 ai primi anni ’80, nasce e si afferma quello che può essere definito il paradigma classico della ricerca in psicoterapia, caratterizzato da una adesione ai principi metodologici della scienza neo-positivistica. Con il presente articolo intendiamo descrivere le caratteristiche principali della ricerca sull’esito e sul processo terapeutico nel corso di queste tre decadi, con particolare riferimento ai diversi approcci e disegni di ricerca, ai livelli di osservazione, e all’analisi dei dati. Inoltre, ci proponiamo di discutere quelli che noi consideriamo essere gli aspetti critici in ciascuno di questi due diversi ambiti di ricerca.

<span class="tlid-translation translation">Theoretical Background: The Borderline Personality Disorder (KIB) cognitive inventory was developed to measure disorder-typical beliefs and associated behavioral and emotional symptoms. Research question: The psychometric parameters of the KIB were examined and complement the findings of a pilot study. Methods: Reliability, factorial, convergent, divergent and differential validity, and change sensitivity were assessed by two clinical (borderline personality disorder and Axis I disorders, n = 150) and one non-clinical sample (n = 70). Results: The results show a high reliability, a high convergent validity and a satisfactory divergent validity. The differential validity is good and the change sensitivity is satisfactory. Conclusions: The KIB enables a reliable and valid detection of disturbance-typical rules and settings in BPS. Its peculiarity lies in the consideration of subjective functions of self-harming behaviors.</span>

This study compared the effectiveness of hypnobehavioral therapy (HypBe) and HypBe enhanced by elements of energetic psychotherapy (hypnoenergetic therapy, HypEn) for obese women. Sixty clients were randomized to either HypBe or HypEn. Body weight, BMI, eating behavior, and body concept were assessed at baseline, posttreatment, and at a follow-up. Mixed ANOVA models and effect sizes were used for statistics. Both treatments improved weight, BMI, eating behavior, and some aspects of body concept. Improvements in eating behavior and body concept were higher for those who also lost weight (responders). Weight and BMI reductions were not significantly different for the HypEn versus HypBe groups at follow-up.

Il lavoro illustra le 3 linee di lavoro nell’ambito della process research su cui si concentra l'interesse degli autori: a) l’analisi concettuale delle premesse teoriche e metodologiche che fondano la ricerca sullo scambio clinico; b) la definizione di un modello generale del processo clinico; c) lo sviluppo di strategie di analisi dello scambio clinico coerenti con tale modello generale. Ciascuna linea di sviluppo viene presentata e discussa in ragione dei suoi presupposti concettuali, di alcuni dei risultati rilevanti che ha prodotto, così come delle prospettive future a essa associata.

This work presents a dialogic model of psychotherapy (the Two-Stage Semiotic Model, TSSM) with discourse flow analysis (DFA) and a low-inferential method of analysis based on it. TSSM claims that in good-outcome psychotherapy, the patient’s system of meanings follows a U-shaped trend: First, it decreases, and then the dialog promotes new meanings. DFA represents a session’s dialog as a “discourse network” made by the associations for temporal adjacency between contents; then it studies the network’s dynamic properties. DFA has been applied to the textual corpus obtained from the verbatim transcript of a 15-session psy- chotherapy course. Findings are consistent with the hypotheses.

The training and practice of both quantitative and qualitative research have focused heavily on research methods at the expenses of the philosophical assumptions underlying them. This situation, which reflects a lack of critical, self-reflective thinking, is problematic because it reduces the likelihood that scientists will self-correct or conceive viable alternatives. The present paper, referring back to a work of Slife (1998), aims to »raise the consciousness of researchers« about the assumptions lying behind typical quantitative and qualitative research methods. A brief introduction to quantitative and qualitative research approaches is given through the lens of my personal experience as a student and a researcher. The ontological, epistemological and methodological assumptions underlying different scientific paradigms are described, and the extent to which they provide a rationale for either quantitative and/or qualitative research is discussed. Some suggestions on how to sustain such a »raising of consciousness« within university academic settings concludes the paper.

The present study investigates the content and structure of the social representation (SR) that cognitive-behavioral (CBT) psychotherapists have of the therapeutic relationship (TR), through a discovery-oriented, mixed-methods approach. For this purpose, our reference point was social representation theory, in particular, the theory of the central nucleus (Abric, 2003; Moscovici, 1961). Data came from a sample of 63 CBT therapists. The results enabled us to identify a series of contents marking CBTs SR of the TR that overlap with the current pan-theoretical conceptualization of this construct. The results also allowed us to identify the complex, clear, and stratified organization of these contents, which are characteristics of a majority and of a minority of the sample studied. These results are discussed with regard of their theoretical, methodological, and practical implications. (PsycINFO Database Record

The present paper introduces the special issue on Text Analysis in Quantitative and Qualitative Psychotherapy Process Research. The motivation for this special issue grew out of recognition of the following: (1) both quantitative and qualitative psychotherapy process research (PPR) make extensive use of text analysis (TA); (2) TA presents different characteristics that serve different aims in quantitative and qualitative PPR; and (3) researchers are not always fully aware of these differences in explicit and systematic ways. The present paper, together with the special issue it introduces, aims at stimulating a more explicit and systematic methodological reflection on the different ways in which TA may be used in quantitative and qualitative PPR. We first outline the general differences between TA in quantitative and qualitative PPR; then, we describe the extent to which the papers in this special issue illustrate these differences. Finally, we conclude by stressing that PPR may significantly benefit from researchers becoming more fully aware of the differences. © 2012 Italian Area Group of the Society for Psychotherapy Research.

This study investigates the relationship between unconventional (i.e., creative) metaphors and emotional-cognitive regulation in a metacognitive interpersonal therapy (MIT). The occurrence of unconventional metaphor was identified using the Metaphor Analysis in Psychotherapy (MAP) model, and emotional-cognitive regulation was assessed by the Therapeutic Cycles Model (TCM). The results showed that the dyad’s frequency of unconventional metaphors is significantly related to emotional-cognitive integration, reflective processes and moments of therapeutic engagement based on the quality of such regulation. More specifically, client metaphors were associated with emotional-cognitive integration and moments of therapeutic engagement, while therapist metaphors were associated with reflective processes. The results suggest that unconventional metaphors may be considered markers for different cognitive-emotional regulatory processes and moments of heightened therapeutic work and change in MIT.