THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN CLIENT AND THERAPIST INTERPERSONAL PROCESSES AND OUTCOMES IN PSYCHODYNAMIC PSYCHOTHERAPY

The associations between interpersonal process variables and psychotherapy outcome were investigated by comparing five individual psychotherapy cases with good outcomes and four with poor outcomes. The structured analysis of social behavior model was used to analyze therapist and client behaviors in Sessions 3, 5, and 15 of 20 sessions of psychotherapy. The results indicated the following. Therapists in the good-outcome group were significantly more "helping and protecting" in each of the three sessions; clients in the good-outcome group were significantly (a) more "trusting and relying " overall and in Session 3, (b) less "walling off and avoiding" in Session 3, (c) less "asserting and separating" overall and in Session 15, (d) more "disclosing and expressing " in Session 15, and (e) less "watching and managing" in Session 15. Additionally, therapists in both outcome groups were significantly less "helping and protecting" in Session 5, compared to the other two sessions. Implications for practice and further research are discussed.