Emerging Evidence for Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy with Personality Disorders and Somatic Disorders

Abstract

CME Educational Objectives 1. Review the outcome evidence of prior meta-analytic reviews of intensive short-term dynamic psychotherapy (ISTDP). 2. Provide an additional meta-analysis of ISTDP for the treatment of personality and somatic disorders. 3. Suggest areas for future study in the use of psychodynamic psychotherapy for personality and somatic disorders. The literature reviewing studies of psychodynamic psychotherapy clearly demonstrates evidence for the efficacy of both short-term and long-term models. 1–3 Meta-analytic reviews synthesizing effects across different psychodynamic psychotherapy formats have been conducted for common mental disorders, 1 depression, 4,5 depression in the setting of personality disorder, 6 personality disorders, 7 and somatic disorders. 8 Psychodynamic psychotherapy demonstrates superiority to control condition, 1,9 and no significant difference to other formal psychotherapies, including cognitive behavioral therapies. 4,5,7,9,10 Building upon a recently published systematic review and meta-analysis, 11 the aim of this article is to further examine the evidence for a contemporary psychodynamic psychotherapy treatment protocol, 12,13 intensive short-term dynamic psychotherapy (ISTDP), in the treatment of personality and somatic disorders.