Abstract
BackgroundThis protocol presents a systematic residential treatment- and research program aimed at patients who have not responded adequately to previous treatment attempts. Patients included in the program primarily suffer from anxiety and/or depressive disorders and usually from one or more comorbid personality disorders. The treatment program is time-limited (eight weeks) and has its basis in treatment principles specified in intensive short-term dynamic psychotherapy (ISTDP). This treatment modality is theoretically well-suited for the handling of various forms of treatment resistance presumably central to these patients’ previous non-response to psychological and psychiatric interventions.Methods/DesignThe research component of the project entails a naturalistic longitudinal research design which aims at systematic evaluation of the effectiveness of the program. To our knowledge, this is one of the first treatment programs and corresponding research projects that systematically select patients with previous non- or negative response to treatment and subjects them to a broad and comprehensive, but theoretically unified and consistent treatment system.DiscussionThe present paper introduces the project, describes its theoretical and methodological underpinnings, and discusses possible future implications and contributions of the project. It thereby serves as a comprehensive background reference to future publications from the project.
Highlights
This protocol presents a systematic residential treatment- and research program aimed at patients who have not responded adequately to previous treatment attempts
It thereby serves as a comprehensive background reference to future publications from the project
The data gathered through the “Drammen Project” are unique in that they combine the selection of a group of patients previously not systematically investigated in the established literature, while at the same time delivering a multifaceted treatment program of unusual intensity based on a treatment model that appears especially well-suited for the task of relieving treatment resistance
Summary
The Drammen Project has as its core a systematic treatment program directed at patients who have not profited adequately from previous treatment attempts. The project entails a naturalistic longitudinal research design which systematically evaluates the effectiveness of the treatment program. To our knowledge, this is the first treatment program and corresponding research project that systematically selects patients with previous non- or negative response to treatment and subjects them to a broad and comprehensive, but theoretically unified and consistent treatment system. The protocol presented here gives an in depth description of the treatment program and the corresponding research design. It offers a comprehensive source of background information pertinent to the Drammen Project and any publications that will arise from it. It will serve as a central reference that contains more detailed information on the methodological and design qualities of the project than is possible in later research publications and make these qualities available for critical review
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