Training community-based psychotherapists to maintain a therapeutic alliance: A psychotherapy practice research network study.

The goal of this study was to test the efficacy of training community-based psychotherapists who were part of a practice research network to be more attuned to their patients' experiences of the therapeutic relationship. We were particularly interested in the effect of therapist training on the congruence of alliance ratings with their patients. Forty psychotherapists who treated 117 patients were randomly assigned to receive either no training or training, whose learning objectives were to help therapists to develop and maintain a therapeutic alliance.

Change in Defensive Functioning Following Group Psychodynamic-Interpersonal Psychotherapy in Women With Binge-Eating Disorder.

We examined change in defensive functioning following group psychodynamic-interpersonal psychotherapy (GPIP) for binge-eating disorder (BED) compared to a waitlist control. We hypothesized that defensive functioning will improve to a greater extent at posttreatment for those in GPIP compared with those in a waitlist control condition. Participants were women with BED assigned to GPIP ( = 131) or a waitlist control ( = 44) condition in a quasi-experimental design.

A group's level of defensive functioning affects individual outcomes in group psychodynamic-interpersonal psychotherapy.

We used an actor-partner interdependence model (APIM) to study the association between the individual group member and other group therapy members' defensive functioning on an individual group member's treatment outcome. We hypothesized that (a) more adaptive individual defensive functioning at pretreatment will be significantly related to better treatment outcomes (i.e.

The quality of randomized controlled trials of psychotherapy for eating disorders.

Objective: We investigated the quality of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that included direct comparisons of psychotherapy for adults with an eating disorder (ED).

Method: Thirty-five direct comparison RCTs of psychotherapy for adults diagnosed with an ED were rated using the Randomized Controlled Trials Psychotherapy Quality Rating Scale (RCT-PQRS).

Results: The mean total RCT-PQRS score (mean = 28.

Psychotherapy for eating disorders: A meta-analysis of direct comparisons.

We conducted a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of bona fide psychotherapy for adults with eating disorders (EDs). Thirty-five RCTs with 54 direct comparisons were included. The majority of RCTs included participants with bulimia nervosa and/or binge-ED, while only two RCTs included participants with anorexia nervosa, and three RCTs included participants with an ED not otherwise specified.

Testing a stepped care model for binge-eating disorder: a two-step randomized controlled trial.

Background: A stepped care approach involves patients first receiving low-intensity treatment followed by higher intensity treatment. This two-step randomized controlled trial investigated the efficacy of a sequential stepped care approach for the psychological treatment of binge-eating disorder (BED).

Methods: In the first step, all participants with BED (n = 135) received unguided self-help (USH) based on a cognitive-behavioral therapy model.

Group psychotherapy for eating disorders: A meta-analysis.

Objective: In the current meta-analysis, we review the effect of group psychotherapy compared to both wait-list controls and other active treatments for adults with eating disorders (EDs).

Method: Twenty-seven randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that provide direct comparisons with a total of 1,853 participants were included.

Results: Group psychotherapy is significantly more effective than wait-list controls at achieving abstinence rates of binge eating and/or purging (RR = 5.

Complex contexts and relationships affect clinical decisions in group therapy.

Clinical errors tend to be underreported even though examining them can provide important training and professional development opportunities. The group therapy context may be prone to clinician errors because of the added complexity within which therapists work and patients receive treatment. We discuss clinical errors that occurred within a group therapy in which a patient for whom group was not appropriate was admitted to the treatment and then was not removed by the clinicians.

Changes in Defense Mechanism Functioning During Group Therapy for Binge-Eating Disorder.

Objective: This study examined change in defensive mechanism functioning during group psychodynamic interpersonal psychotherapy (GPIP) for women with binge-eating disorder (BED).

Procedure: Women with BED (N = 85) received 16 weeks of GPIP. Five group therapy sessions (sessions 1, 3, 8, 12, and 16) from each of the 12 groups were video recorded and transcribed.

Relation Between Maternal Contingent Responsiveness and Infant Social Expectations.

This study investigated the relation between maternal contingent responsiveness and 4- and 5-month-old infants' (N = 64) social expectation behavior in a still-face procedure. Mothers were asked to interact with their infants for 2 min (interactive phase), remain still-faced for 1 min (still-face phase), and resume interaction for 2 min. Mother and infant behavior was assessed for the frequency of infant and mother smiles, mother smiles that were contingent to infant smiles and infant smiles were contingent to mother smiles during the interactive phase, and infant social bids to mother during the still-face phase.

Distinguishing Mother-Infant Interaction From Stranger-Infant Interaction at 2, 4, and 6 Months of Age.

Observers watched videotaped face-to-face mother-infant and stranger-infant interactions of 12 infants at 2, 4, or 6 months of age. Half of the observers saw each mother paired with her own infant and another infant of the same age (mother tapes) and half saw each infant paired with his or her mother and with a stranger (infant tapes). Observers were asked to judge which was the mother-infant dyad in each pair.