Quantitative Approaches to Treatment Process, Change Process, and Process-Outcome Research
To understand how and why psychotherapy works, it is necessary to focus on (both) the process of psychotherapy (i.e., what takes place during the treatment) and the relationship between this process and the outcome of psychotherapy (i.e., the treatment’s
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Omar Carlo Gioacchino Gelo and Stefano Manzo
Contents
Abstract
13.1
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
13.2
The Process and Outcome of Psychotherapy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248 The Process of Psychotherapy . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248 The Outcome of Psychotherapy . . . . . . . . . . . 252
13.2.1 13.2.2 13.3 13.3.1 13.3.2 13.3.3
Treatment Process, Change Process, and Process-Outcome Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Treatment Process Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Change Process Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Process-Outcome Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
253 253 259 263
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
O.C.G. Gelo (*) Department of History, Society and Human Studies, University of Salento, Via Stampacchia 45, 73100 Lecce, Italy
To understand how and why psychotherapy works, it is necessary to focus on (both) the process of psychotherapy (i.e., what takes place during the treatment) and the relationship between this process and the outcome of psychotherapy (i.e., the treatment’s clinical effects). In the present chapter, we provide an overview of three main quantitative research strategies that may be differently used to fulfill this aim. These include treatment process research (which investigates what takes place during psychotherapy, regardless of its clinical meaningfulness), change process research (which investigates what takes place during psychotherapy, with regard to its clinical meaningfulness), and process-outcome research (which investigates the relationship between what takes place during psychotherapy and its clinical effects). We first define the process and outcome of psychotherapy; then, for each research approach proposed, we review the research design, data collection, and data analysis issues; finally, we conclude with suggestions for future research.
Department of Psychotherapy Science, Sigmund Freud University, Freudplatz 1, 1020 Vienna, Austria e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]
13.1
S. Manzo Animal Research Institute, Via Toledo 148, Napoli, Italy
The clinical practice of psychotherapy primarily addresses change, which represents both the
O.C.G. Gelo et al. (eds.), Psychotherapy Research, DOI 10.1007/978-3-7091-1382-0_13, # Springer-Verlag Wien 2015
Introduction
247
248
therapy’s means and end. In the first case, which is usually described as the process of psychotherapy, we address modifications of experiences, behaviors, beliefs, feelings, fantasies, etc. that are faced by the clients and/or therapists during the course of a treatment. In the second case, which is usually referred to as the outcome of psychotherapy, we address modifications within those specific domains (affective, cognitive, behavioral, etc.), which represent the target of the intervention and occur as
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