Aktuelle Entwicklungen der psychodynamischen Psychotherapieforschung

Systematic review of machine learning utilization within outpatient psychodynamic psychotherapy research

Introduction

Although outpatient psychodynamic psychotherapy is effective, there has been no improvement in treatment success in recent years. One way to improve psychodynamic treatment could be the use of machine learning to design treatments tailored to the individual patient's needs. In the context of psychotherapy, machine learning refers mainly to various statistical methods, which aim to predict outcomes (e.g., drop-out) of future patients as accurately as possible. We therefore searched various literature for all studies using machine learning in outpatient psychodynamic psychotherapy research to identify current trends and objectives.

Methods

For this systematic review, we applied the Preferred Reporting Items for systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Guidelines.

Results

In total, we found four studies that used machine learning in outpatient psychodynamic psychotherapy research. Three of these studies were published between 2019 and 2021.

Discussion

We conclude that machine learning has only recently made its way into outpatient psychodynamic psychotherapy research and researchers might not yet be aware of its possible uses. Therefore, we have listed a variety of perspectives on how machine learning could be used to increase treatment success of psychodynamic psychotherapies. In doing so, we hope to give new impetus to outpatient psychodynamic psychotherapy research on how to use machine learning to address previously unsolved problems.

Psychosomatic-psychotherapeutic treatment in an evening clinic: a qualitative examination of patients' expectations and experiences

Background

Over a course of 10 weeks the psychosomatic–psychotherapeutic evening clinic at the University of Heidelberg offers an intensive and multimodal 3-h treatment program on three evenings a week. The clinic aims at accommodating patients who on the one hand do not fit the criteria of partial or full-time inpatient therapy, but on the other hand requires a more intensified therapy dose than the usual German outpatient settings can cater for. In the presented monocentric, qualitative study, we wanted to examine this treatment concept with regard to the patients’ specific concerns, expectations, and individual experiences. By contrasting differences in intensity of outpatient and inpatient treatment, we aimed to identify those characteristics of the evening clinic setting that were perceived as especially helpful.

Method

Each of the 25 patients was interviewed twice, using semi-structured interviews. The interviews took place before (T0) and after (T1) the 10-week treatment interval. A qualitative content analysis of the transcribed interviews was performed using the software “MaxQDA”.

Results

We identified a total of 1609 separate codes and grouped them into 33 topics and 5 overarching categories. Here, we found some aspects independent of the therapeutic setting, and others concerning the patients’ specific expectations and experiences resulting from the particularities of the evening clinic as an outpatient setting including certain inpatient characteristics. This included the possibility of patients continuing to work and being able to fulfil social obligations, i.e. childcare or caring for relatives, while at the same time undergoing intensive psychotherapeutic treatment.

Conclusions

Our results show that the evening clinic concept is particularly suitable for patients with mental and psychosomatic disorders who require intensified multimodal therapy while continuing to meet their obligations in their private and working lives. However, in comparison to other therapeutic methods, this concept generated greater stress and time challenges. Patients should therefore have a reasonably good standard of functioning in everyday life and sufficient coping resources. This is especially important for patients who continue working in their jobs while undergoing treatment. So far, there is a lack of quantitative data which would be needed to evaluate the effectiveness of this novel setting.