How expert clinicians' prototypes of an ideal treatment correlate with outcome in psychodynamic and cognitive-behavioral therapy

This study presents an innovative methodology for identifying the active ingredients in the process of psychotherapy. Panels of experts developed prototypes of psychodynamic and cognitive-behavioral therapy using the Psychotherapy Process Q-set. The prototypes were used to assess the extent to which treatments conformed to the prototypes in 3 archived treatment samples. The degree to which the treatments adhered to the prototypes was measured quantitatively and correlated with outcome. The psychodynamic prototype constructed by experts was consistently significantly correlated with positive outcome in both psychodynamic and cognitive-behavioral therapy. The cognitive-behavioral prototype was not consistently significantly correlated with positive outcome in either type of therapy.