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Dahl K, Bremer K, Wilberg T. The significance of connectedness: avoidant personality disorder patients' subjective experiences of change after attending a specialized treatment program. Front Psychol 2024; 15:1412665. [PMID: 39040961 PMCID: PMC11260824 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1412665] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2024] [Accepted: 06/24/2024] [Indexed: 07/24/2024] Open
Abstract
Objectives This study aimed to inquire into the subjective experiences and meaning-making of change of people diagnosed with avoidant personality disorder (AvPD) after attending a treatment program developed for AvPD. Methods Eighteen AvPD patients were interviewed 1 year after completing their treatment using a semi-structured interview guide. The interviews were analyzed through reflexive thematic analysis. Results Three main themes were found to capture the various subjective experiences of change. The first main theme "being more alive" included the subthemes "talking and listening together" and "opening up and grounding into myself." The second main theme was "still longing for more," and the third main theme "I cannot even manage therapy" included the subthemes "as if we were together" and "capitulation." Conclusion Although these findings may not be specific to AvPD, they shed light on the importance of attending to the dynamic interplay of intersubjectivity, social motivations, and agency in a therapeutic context. Discovering a sense of agency within an interpersonal context in which the patient feels connected may lead to them opening up for development in accordance with their social motivational intentions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kristine Dahl
- Group Therapy Team, Aust-Agder County Outpatient Psychiatric Unit, Sorlandet Hospital, Kristiansand, Norway
| | - Kjetil Bremer
- Norwegian National Advisory Unit on Personality Psychiatry (NAPP), Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
| | - Theresa Wilberg
- Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Department of Research and Innovation, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
- Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
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COVID-19 Related Traumatic Distress in Psychotherapy Patients during the Pandemic: The Role of Attachment, Working Alliance, and Therapeutic Agency. Brain Sci 2021; 11:brainsci11101288. [PMID: 34679353 PMCID: PMC8533688 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci11101288] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2021] [Revised: 09/15/2021] [Accepted: 09/17/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The early months of the COVID-19 pandemic have been a challenging time for many psychotherapy patients. To understand why certain patients were more resilient, we examined the role of patients' attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance, as well as collaborative therapy experiences (perceived working alliance and therapeutic agency) in their online sessions on their COVID-related traumatic distress over a three-month period. A total of 466 patients in online psychotherapy completed a survey during the first weeks of the pandemic, and 121 of those completed a follow-up survey three months later. Lower distress at follow-up was predicted by patients' lower attachment anxiety and higher therapeutic agency in their online sessions after controlling for baseline distress and time of survey completion. Higher working alliance predicted less distress at follow-up only for patients with high attachment anxiety. For patients with low attachment avoidance (i.e., more securely attached), higher therapeutic agency predicted less distress. These findings suggest that patients' attachment anxiety and therapeutic agency may play significant roles also in online therapy during COVID-19 in patient's experienced traumatic distress, and that working alliance and therapeutic agency may be differentially important for patients with different levels of attachment anxiety and avoidance.
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Baumeister H, Bauereiss N, Zarski AC, Braun L, Buntrock C, Hoherz C, Idrees AR, Kraft R, Meyer P, Nguyen TBD, Pryss R, Reichert M, Sextl T, Steinhoff M, Stenzel L, Steubl L, Terhorst Y, Titzler I, Ebert DD. Clinical and Cost-Effectiveness of PSYCHOnlineTHERAPY: Study Protocol of a Multicenter Blended Outpatient Psychotherapy Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial for Patients With Depressive and Anxiety Disorders. Front Psychiatry 2021; 12:660534. [PMID: 34054617 PMCID: PMC8160118 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.660534] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2021] [Accepted: 04/12/2021] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Introduction: Internet- and mobile-based interventions (IMIs) and their integration into routine psychotherapy (i.e., blended therapy) can offer a means of complementing psychotherapy in a flexible and resource optimized way. Objective: The present study will evaluate the non-inferiority, cost-effectiveness, and safety of two versions of integrated blended psychotherapy for depression and anxiety compared to standard cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Methods: A three-armed multicenter cluster-randomized controlled non-inferiority trial will be conducted comparing two implementations of blended psychotherapy (PSYCHOnlineTHERAPYfix/flex) compared to CBT. Seventy-five outpatient psychotherapists with a CBT-license will be randomized in a 1:1:1 ratio. Each of them is asked to include 12 patients on average with depressive or anxiety disorders resulting in a total sample size of N = 900. All patients receive up to a maximum of 16 psychotherapy sessions, either as routine CBT or alternating with Online self-help sessions (fix: 8/8; flex: 0-16). Assessments will be conducted at patient study inclusion (pre-treatment) and 6, 12, 18, and 24 weeks and 12 months post-inclusion. The primary outcome is depression and anxiety severity at 18 weeks post-inclusion (post-treatment) using the Patient Health Questionnaire Anxiety and Depression Scale. Secondary outcomes are depression and anxiety remission, treatment response, health-related quality of life, patient satisfaction, working alliance, psychotherapy adherence, and patient safety. Additionally, several potential moderators and mediators including patient characteristics and attitudes toward the interventions will be examined, complemented by ecological day-to-day digital behavior variables via passive smartphone sensing as part of an integrated smart-sensing sub-study. Data-analysis will be performed on an intention-to-treat basis with additional per-protocol analyses. In addition, cost-effectiveness and cost-utility analyses will be conducted from a societal and a public health care perspective. Additionally, qualitative interviews on acceptance, feasibility, and optimization potential will be conducted and analyzed. Discussion: PSYCHOnlineTHERAPY will provide evidence on blended psychotherapy in one of the largest ever conducted psychotherapy trials. If shown to be non-inferior and cost-effective, PSYCHOnlineTHERAPY has the potential to innovate psychotherapy in the near future by extending the ways of conducting psychotherapy. The rigorous health care services approach will facilitate a timely implementation of blended psychotherapy into standard care. Trial Registration: The trial is registered in the German Clinical Trials Register (DRKS00023973; date of registration: December 28th 2020).
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Affiliation(s)
- Harald Baumeister
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Institute of Psychology and Education, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany
| | - Natalie Bauereiss
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Institute of Psychology and Education, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany
| | - Anna-Carlotta Zarski
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Erlangen, Germany
| | - Lina Braun
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Institute of Psychology and Education, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany
| | - Claudia Buntrock
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Erlangen, Germany
| | - Christian Hoherz
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Erlangen, Germany
| | - Abdul Rahman Idrees
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Institute of Psychology and Education, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany
- Institute of Databases and Information Systems (DBIS), Ulm University, Ulm, Germany
| | - Robin Kraft
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Institute of Psychology and Education, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany
- Institute of Databases and Information Systems (DBIS), Ulm University, Ulm, Germany
| | - Pauline Meyer
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Institute of Psychology and Education, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany
| | - Tran Bao Dat Nguyen
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Institute of Psychology and Education, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany
| | - Rüdiger Pryss
- Medical Informatics, Institute of Clinical Epidemiology and Biometry, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Manfred Reichert
- Institute of Databases and Information Systems (DBIS), Ulm University, Ulm, Germany
| | - Theresa Sextl
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Erlangen, Germany
| | - Maria Steinhoff
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Institute of Psychology and Education, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany
| | - Lena Stenzel
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Institute of Psychology and Education, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany
| | - Lena Steubl
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Institute of Psychology and Education, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany
| | - Yannik Terhorst
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Institute of Psychology and Education, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany
| | - Ingrid Titzler
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Erlangen, Germany
| | - David Daniel Ebert
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Erlangen, Germany
- Department of Sport & Health Sciences, Chair for Psychology & Digital Mental Health Care, Technical University Munich, Munich, Germany
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Huber J, Born AK, Claaß C, Ehrenthal JC, Nikendei C, Schauenburg H, Dinger U. Therapeutic agency, in-session behavior, and patient-therapist interaction. J Clin Psychol 2018; 75:66-78. [PMID: 30216437 DOI: 10.1002/jclp.22700] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to investigate associations between patients' subjective agency, their observable in-session behavior, and the patient-therapist interaction during the early phase of psychotherapy. METHODS The sample included 52 depressed patients in psychodynamic psychotherapy. After Session 5, the patients' agency and the quality of the therapeutic alliance were assessed. Based on session recordings, two independent observers rated the patients' involvement, their interpersonal behavior, and the therapists' directiveness. RESULTS Higher agency was associated with stronger therapeutic alliances. Patients who indicated higher agency in their therapy participated more actively in the session and showed less hostile impact messages. Patients' agency was not related to therapists' directiveness. CONCLUSIONS Patients' sense of agency in psychotherapy was associated with more active involvement and affiliative interaction. The findings support the idea that patients need to feel capable of acting within and having an influence on their therapy to benefit from it.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julia Huber
- Department of General Internal Medicine and Psychosomatics, Center for Psychosocial Medicine, University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Ann-Kathrin Born
- Department of General Internal Medicine and Psychosomatics, Center for Psychosocial Medicine, University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Christine Claaß
- Department of General Internal Medicine and Psychosomatics, Center for Psychosocial Medicine, University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Johannes C Ehrenthal
- Institute of Medical Psychology, Center for Psychosocial Medicine, University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Christoph Nikendei
- Department of General Internal Medicine and Psychosomatics, Center for Psychosocial Medicine, University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Henning Schauenburg
- Department of General Internal Medicine and Psychosomatics, Center for Psychosocial Medicine, University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Ulrike Dinger
- Department of General Internal Medicine and Psychosomatics, Center for Psychosocial Medicine, University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
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