Change processes in psychotherapy for patients presenting with histrionic personality disorder.

Objective: Histrionic personality disorder (HPD) with a lifetime prevalence rate of 1.8% is an under-researched psychiatric diagnosis. The present study therefore aimed to investigate both the processes and outcomes of psychotherapy for HPD in a non-controlled study.

[Evaluation of the Effectiveness of the Clarification-Oriented Psychotherapy in Persons with a Narcissistic Personality Disorder According to DSM-IV - A Naturalistic Longitudinal Study with Pre-Post Design].

Background:  The treatment of patients diagnosed with a narcissistic personality disorder (NPS) is considered to be extra challenging. Well-controlled studies on the effectiveness of psychotherapy in NPS patients are not available; so many interventions are based on theoretical constructs. The clarification-oriented psychotherapy (COP) is a psychotherapeutic approach, which emerged from concepts of the cognitive behavioral therapy, client-centered psychotherapy and various process-oriented procedures.

Addressing interpersonal patterns in patients with personality disorders partially explains psychotherapy outcome via changes in interaction patterns: A mediation analysis.

Many patients with personality disorders (PDs) present with problematic interaction patterns. These may also manifest in the therapeutic relationship. For successful treatment, therapists must therefore find effective ways to address such problematic interaction patterns.

Psychotherapeutic case formulation: Plan analysis for narcissistic personality disorder.

Background: One of the relevant case formulation methods for personality difficulties is plan analysis. The present study aimed at delivering a prototypical plan analysis for clients presenting with a diagnosis of narcissistic personality disorder (NPD). The sample consisted of 14 participants diagnosed with an NPD.

Subtypes of narcissistic personality disorder based on psychotherapy process: A longitudinal nonparametric analysis.

The present study aims at empirically exploring subtypes of narcissistic personality disorder (NPD), based on patient descriptors of the psychotherapeutic process. Subtype identification and characterization of NPD is central, in particular, to increase diagnostic precision, linking categorical and dimensional conceptualizations of psychopathology, and to individualize treatments. A total of N = 161 patients diagnosed with NPD undergoing clarification-oriented psychotherapy were included in the present reanalysis of a naturalistic pre-post process-outcome study.

Processes of Change in Psychotherapy for Narcissistic Personality Disorder.

The present study aims at determining the role for outcome of potential processes of change in psychotherapy for narcissistic personality disorder (NPD). They were examined on three levels: the content, the process, and the relationship. A total of 161 patients suffering with NPD were recruited in a naturalistic setting as part of the present study.

Psychotherapy of Dependent Personality Disorder: The Relationship of Patient-Therapist Interactions to Outcome.

So far, only a few studies have focused on psychotherapy for Dependent Personality Disorder (DPD). DPD is marked by a repetitive pattern of efforts aiming at maintaining close relationships, which may present as a lack of assertiveness and as a difficulty in making routine decisions. The present study aims at exploring processes of change taking place during the working phase of a clarification-oriented psychotherapy (COP) by focusing on the in-session patient-therapist interaction, as it changes during treatment and their links with treatment outcome.

Social interaction patterns, therapist responsiveness, and outcome in treatments for borderline personality disorder.

Objectives: Inflexible social interaction patterns are defining features of borderline personality disorder (BPD). Specific beliefs about the self and others may be activated across interaction situations, often leading to instable relationships. It may be pivotal to address these difficulties in early treatment phases, through appropriate therapist responsiveness, which means an adaptation of therapist's activity to their client's behaviours using emerging information in the process (Stiles, 2009, Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 16, 86).

The role of shame and self-compassion in psychotherapy for narcissistic personality disorder: An exploratory study.

This process-outcome study aims at exploring the role of shame, self-compassion, and specific therapeutic interventions in psychotherapy for patients with narcissistic personality disorder (NPD). This exploratory study included a total of N = 17 patients with NPD undergoing long-term clarification-oriented psychotherapy. Their mean age was 39 years, and 10 were male.

Emotional Processing, Interaction Process, and Outcome in Clarification-Oriented Psychotherapy for Personality Disorders: A Process-Outcome Analysis.

It is important to understand the change processes involved in psychotherapies for patients with personality disorders (PDs). One patient process that promises to be useful in relation to the outcome of psychotherapy is emotional processing. In the present process-outcome analysis, we examine this question by using a sequential model of emotional processing and by additionally taking into account a therapist's appropriate responsiveness to a patient's presentation in clarification-oriented psychotherapy (COP), a humanistic-experiential form of therapy.