Abstract
BackgroundThe Feeling Word Checklist (FWC) is a self-report questionnaire designed to assess therapists’ countertransference (CT) feelings. The primary aim of the study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of a brief, 12-item version of the Feeling Word Checklist (FWC-BV). The second aim was to validate the factor structure by examining the associations between the FWC-BV factors, patients’ personality pathology and therapeutic alliance (TA).MethodsTherapists at 13 different outpatient units within the Norwegian Network of Personality Disorders participated, and the study includes therapies for a large sample of patients (N = 2425) with personality pathology. Over a period of 2.5 years, therapists completed the FWC-BV for each patient in therapy every 6 months. Statistical methods included exploratory (EFA) and confirmatory (CFA) factor analysis. Internal consistency was estimated using Mc Donald’s coefficient Omega (ωt). The Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV – Axis II (SCID II) and Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) were used as diagnostic instruments, and patient-rated TA was assessed using the Working Alliance Inventory (WAI-SR).ResultsFactor analyses revealed three clinically meaningful factors: Inadequate, Idealised and Confident. These factors had acceptable psychometric properties. Most notably, a number of borderline PD criteria correlated positively with the factors Inadequate and Idealised, and negatively with the factor Confident. All the factors correlated significantly with at least one of the WAI-SR subscales.ConclusionsThe FWC-BV measures three clinically meaningful aspects of therapists’ CT feelings. This brief version of the FWC seems satisfactory for use in further research and in clinical contexts.
Highlights
The Feeling Word Checklist (FWC) is a self-report questionnaire designed to assess therapists’ countertransference (CT) feelings
The primary aim of the current study is to explore the factor structure and psychometric properties of the Feeling Word Checklist brief version (FWC-BV), used in a clinical sample of patients with personality disorders (PD) or PD traits
The solution was a three-factor solution based on 10 items/feelings, labelled Idealised, Inadequate and Confident
Summary
The Feeling Word Checklist (FWC) is a self-report questionnaire designed to assess therapists’ countertransference (CT) feelings. Therapists unconsciously displace feelings from their past onto analytic situations This is not supposed to happen; analysts are supposed to stay calm and objective, allowing no personal material to interfere with therapy. In the 1950s, the concept of CT broadened It was seen as a road to knowledge about the patients’ problems, as patients communicate something important about their inner world with the feelings they induce in their therapist. In this broader view, CT is understood as all the feelings evoked in the therapist, both conscious and unconscious [2, 3]. CT is defined as the therapist’s emotional response to the patient, that is, the feelings evoked when treating a patient
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