Evaluation of psychic change through the application of empirical and clinical techniques for a 2-year treatment: a single case study

The authors present results obtained by a combination of clinical and empirical methods used in the evaluation of psychic change involving a single case study carried out during 2 years of nonmanualized psychodynamic psychotherapy (Barber & Crits-Christoph, 1993 Barber, J. P. and Crits-Christoph, P. 1993. Advances in measures of psychodynamic formulations. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 61: 574–585. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]; Barber, Foltz, DeRubeis, & Landis, 2002 Barber, J. P., Foltz, C., DeRubeis, R. J. and Landis, J. R. 2002. Consistency in interpersonal themes in narratives about relationships. Psychotherapy Research, 12: 139–159. [Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). A multidimensional definition of change that includes clinical (psychoanalytic) and empirical perspectives is provided. The authors used material from supervision sessions and clinical meetings to assess the psychodynamic diagnosis and evolution. The following empirical techniques and instruments were used: core conflictual relationship theme (Luborsky & Crits-Christoph, 1990), Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (Derogatis, 1983), and Differential Elements for a Psychodynamic Diagnostic (C. M. López Moreno et al., 1998 López Moreno, C. M., Birman, C., Dorfman Lerner, B., Koziol, S., Schalayeff, C. and Roussos, A. 1998. “Proyecto de investigación sobre cambio psíquico en psicoterapia psicoanalítica. [Research project on psychic change in psychoanalytic psychotherapy.]”. In Primera conferencia Latino-Americana de investigación en psicoanálisis “proceso psicoanalítico: Herramientas, métodos y resultados, Edited by: Hagelin, A. 271–292. Buenos Aires: IPA. [Google Scholar]). Several markers of psychic change along the therapeutic process were found. The instruments proved to be sensitive to the changes obtained during the psychotherapy. Used together, the instruments allowed an integrated evaluation of the patient's evolution during the treatment.