Brain activation during autobiographical relationship episode narratives: a core conflictual relationship theme approach.

The authors combined the core conflictual relationship theme (CCRT) method and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to identify brain regions involved in recall of autobiographical relationship episodes, a key process in psychotherapy. Relationship narratives were obtained from healthy subjects and scored for CCRT relationship themes and emotion. Autobiographical personal and nonautobiographical control narratives were presented in a block-design fMRI experiment.

Changes in defensive functioning in completed psychoanalyses: the penn psychoanalytic treatment collection.

Theory predicts that patients completing psychoanalysis should improve in their dynamic functioning. The aim of this naturalistic study is to examine whether a sample of 17 subjects from the Penn Psychoanalytic Treatment Collection with completed, tape-recorded psychoanalyses demonstrated improvement in one dynamic aspect: their defense mechanisms. The pre-post effect size for the change in overall defensive functioning (ODF) of the sample was large (.

The history and empirical status of key psychoanalytic concepts.

Over the past century, the ideas set out in psychoanalytic theory have permeated the field of psychology as well as literature, art, and culture. Despite this popularity, analytic theory has only recently received empirical support. In this chapter, we seek to highlight several fundamental concepts of analytic theory (the unconscious, drives, defenses, object relations, Oedipus complex) and psychodynamic treatments (transference, countertransference, interpretations, resistance).

The Same Old Song?-Stability and Change in Relationship Schemas From Adolescence to Young Adulthood.

Relationship schemas are core elements of personality that guide interpersonal functioning. The aim of this study is to examine stability and change in relationship schemas across two developmental epochs-adolescence and young adulthood-in the stories that people tell about their interactions with others. Using the Core Conflictual Relationship Theme Method, relationship themes were coded from semistructured interviews conducted in adolescence and again at age 25.

Is psychotherapy good for your health?

This is a dedicated review of the evidence for the relation of having a period of psychotherapy and then comparing it with a measure of improved physical health. We aimed to make it the first intended-to-be-complete review of this type. Three inter-related types of studies were examined: Type 1: reduction in physical illnesses through psychotherapy, especially for the patient's survival time during the interval between diagnosis and an end point, Type 2: reduction in pain in relation to receiving psychotherapy, and Type 3: reduction in costs of treatment in relation to receiving psychotherapy.

The effect of 12-step self-help group attendance and participation on drug use outcomes among cocaine-dependent patients.

Objective: Although cocaine-dependent patients are frequently referred to 12-step self-help groups, little research has examined the benefits of 12-step group attendance in this population. Moreover, the distinction between attending meetings and actively participating in 12-step activities has not typically been examined.

Method: In the National Institute on Drug Abuse Collaborative Cocaine Treatment Study, 487 cocaine-dependent outpatients were recruited at five sites for a randomized controlled trial of 24-week behavioral treatments.

What aspects of treatment matter to the patient in the treatment of cocaine dependence?

Patient views of the helpful aspects of treatment were examined in the NIDA Collaborative Cocaine Treatment Study, a multi-site trial comparing four psychosocial treatments: individual cognitive therapy (CT), individual supportive expressive dynamic therapy (SE), individual drug counseling, and group drug counseling only, for the treatment of cocaine dependence. Factor analysis of the items of Helpful Aspects of Treatment measure suggested a general therapy factor, a group treatment/education factor, and a treatment structure factor. No differences were found among the four treatments on the ratings of helpfulness of these three factors, common factors, or drug intervention components.

Relationships between God and people in the Bible, part III: When the other is an outsider.

This study considers intergroup attitudes in the Bible and compares relationships between God or Jesus and (a) Torah non-Israelites; (b) New Testament people who were not followers of Jesus; and (c) New Testament people who were not Jewish. Torah non-Israelites belonged to an out-group with respect to the Hebrew Torah, New Testament people who were not followers of Jesus belonged to an out-group with respect to the Christian New Testament, and New Testament people who were not Jewish were an in-group with respect to Christians. Results were that God or Jesus' relationships were very negative with people in the Torah who were non-Israelites and with people in the New Testament who were not followers, while relationships were positive with people in the New Testament who were not Jewish.

A method of choosing CCRT scorers.

This study compared interjudge agreement in 2 sample cases in which both experienced as well as inexperienced scorers were used. Scorers were given only a single page of core conflictual relationship theme (CCRT) instructions to help them learn the method. The results in both cases suggest that there was significantly greater interjudge agreement among experienced CCRT scorers compared with inexperienced scorers.

Relationships between God and people in the Bible, Part II: The New Testament, with comparisons with the Torah.

IN AN EARLIER study on the first five books of the Bible, the Torah or Pentateuch, relationships between God and people were assessed with the use of a clinical-quantitative method, the core conflictual relationship theme (CCRT) method. Here, the study is extended to God or Jesus's relationships with people in the New Testament, to obtain the first description of those relationships based on an established measure of relationships. In the New Testament, many different kinds of relationship themes were observed, with benevolent and positive themes as the most frequent.

HIV risk reduction in the National Institute on Drug Abuse Cocaine Collaborative Treatment Study.

HIV risk was evaluated among 487 cocaine-dependent patients recruited from five treatment programs in a trial that examined the efficacy of four outpatient-based psychosocial treatments. Treatments were offered two to three times per week for 6 months and consisted of group drug counseling (GDC) or group counseling plus individual drug counseling (IDC), cognitive therapy (CT), or supportive-expressive therapy (SE). The average patient had used cocaine for 7 years, with 10 days of use in the last month.

Relationships between God and people in the Bible: a core conflictual relationship theme study of the Pentateuch/Torah.

The most widely known images of God are from the Bible. An important characteristic of these images is their portrayal of God's interactions with people. Although there have been many religious and literary discussions of God's relationships with people in the Bible, no systematic psychological assessment has been reported.

Sudden gains in recovering from depression: are they also found in psychotherapies other than cognitive-behavioral therapy?

Following T. Z. Tang and R.

Who starts treatment: engagement in the NIDA collaborative cocaine treatment study.

This study addressed the role of demographic variables, severity of drug dependence, and drug-related problems infacilitating or impeding engagement into a research treatment. Patients were tracked through various stages of entry for the research treatment: phone screening, intake, and randomization to treatment. Results suggested that certain demographic factors put patients more at risk for dropping out at intake and randomization.

The only clinical and quantitative study since Freud of the preconditions for recurrent symptoms during psychotherapy and psychoanalysis.

In this paper the author aims to evaluate theories of onset conditions both before psychological and before somatic symptoms by the first ever clinical-quantitative assessment of their preconditions, and then to compare these preconditions with Freud (1926) and with other theories of symptom formation. The seven cases in the sample were the only cases of recorded psychotherapy or psychoanalysis, each with recurrent symptoms in segments of sessions before symptoms versus segments of sessions before controls (with no symptoms) that were suitable for 'the symptom-context method'. The recurrent psychological symptom cases were: momentary forgettings, depressive shifts, and phobic feelings and behaviours; the recurrent somatic symptoms were stomach ulcer pains, migraine headaches, absence (petit mal) episodes and premature ventricular contractions (PVC) of the heart.

The relationship of depression and stressors to immunological assays: a meta-analytic review.

This is a broad meta-analysis of the relations of both depression and stressors to immunological assays. The number of study samples (greater than 180) and measures (greater than 40) is much more extensive than any so far. Analyses are done by both fixed and random effects.

The factor structure of the working alliance inventory in cognitive-behavioral therapy.

Studies of the therapeutic alliance in cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) have varied in their results, necessitating a deeper understanding of this construct. Through an exploratory factor analysis of the alliance in CBT, as measured by the Working Alliance Inventory (shortened, observer-rated version), the authors found a two-factor structure of alliance that challenges the commonly accepted one general factor of alliance. The results suggest that the relationship between therapist and client (Relationship) may be largely independent of the client's agreement with and confidence in the therapist and CBT (Agreement/ Confidence), necessitating independent measures of these two factors, not one measure of a general alliance factor.

The Penn Psychoanalytic Treatment Collection: a set of complete and recorded psychoanalyses as a research resource.

From a set of seventeen complete and tape-recorded psychoanalyses, a sample of findings is presented: (a) the level of agreement of two clinical judges on the psychological health of these patients is adequate for the late sessions, but not for the early sessions; (b) the amount of change during psychoanalysis appears to be similar to that in the Menninger Foundation Psychotherapy Research Project; (c) psychiatric severity measures from the early sessions can yield a significant level of prediction of the later benefits from psychoanalysis. Finally, further research uses of this collection of psychoanalyses are suggested.

Therapeutic alliance as a predictor of outcome and retention in the National Institute on Drug Abuse Collaborative Cocaine Treatment Study.

The authors examined the relation between therapeutic alliance, retention, and outcome for 308 cocaine-dependent outpatients participating in the National Institute on Drug Abuse Collaborative Cocaine Treatment Study. High levels of alliance were observed in supportive-expressive therapy (SE), cognitive therapy (CT), and individual drug counseling (IDC), and alliance levels increased slightly but significantly from Session 2 to Session 5 in all groups. In contrast to other studies, alliance was not a significant predictor of drug outcome.

Predictors of self-help group attendance in cocaine dependent patients.

Objective: While referral to self-help groups for patients dependent on drugs other than alcohol has become widespread in the substance abuse treatment field, little is known about the characteristics of people who attend these groups. This study examines particular sociodemographic and clinical characteristics as possible predictors of attendance at self-help groups in the National Institute on Drug Abuse Collaborative Cocaine Treatment Study.

Method: A multicenter study randomly assigned 487 patients (76.

A current reader's response to the article of 50 years ago by Karpman, B. (1949): "The principles and methods of objective psychotherapy".

The first aim is to describe the psychotherapy of 1949 in the light of today's psychotherapies. The old psychotherapy is suited to treating severely ill patients. It does not use free association, but rather is focused on current problems.

Psychosocial treatments for cocaine dependence: National Institute on Drug Abuse Collaborative Cocaine Treatment Study.

Background: This was a multicenter investigation examining the efficacy of 4 psychosocial treatments for cocaine-dependent patients.

Methods: Four hundred eighty-seven patients were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 manual-guided treatments: individual drug counseling plus group drug counseling (GDC), cognitive therapy plus GDC, supportive-expressive therapy plus GDC, or GDC alone. Treatment was intensive, including 36 possible individual sessions and 24 group sessions for 6 months.

Who's afraid of psychoanalytic research? Analysts' attitudes towards reading clinical versus empirical research papers.

The authors point out that psychoanalytic research papers are cited with less frequency than clinical papers, and, presumably, are read with less frequency. Results from two sets of questionnaires from psychoanalysts indicate that a majority of analysts report high levels of conviction in the rationales and techniques in their clinical work. However, analysts with higher degrees of conviction read fewer research papers than analysts with lower degrees of conviction.