Inpatient Psychodynamic Psychotherapy Research Articles

Results of psychodynamic inpatient psychotherapy in relation to diagnosis

Therapy outcome is analysed according to the main diagnoses in a 5 years' sample of psychodynamic inpatient psychotherapy (n=461) and controlled in a 6-9 months follow-up (n=312). Therapy effects, as measured in a pre-post comparison of the patients' self-rating, are generally good and especially noticeable for affective and anxiety disorders, whereas the effects for somatoform disorders are relatively low. The opposite tendencies are seen in follow-up, i.e. relapses in anxiety and affective disorders, and further improvement in somatoform disorders. A surprisingly positive outcome is shown for personality disorders and especially for severe personality disorders (e.g. Borderline). Regardless of the diagnoses, 80% of the patients show a high degree of satisfaction with their treatment and its outcome.

Interpersonal Problems as Predictors of Symptom Related Treatment Outcome in Longterm Psychotherapy

It is already known from several research projects that interpersonal factors play an important role in the outcome of psychotherapy. This joint multicenter investigation looks into the relevance of interpersonal problems when prognosing the outcome of inpatient psychodynamic psychotherapy. 194 patients from six different hospitals suffering from a range of psychological disorders were examined before the beginning of therapy and on discharge by means of the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (IIP) and the Symptom Checklist 90R (SCL-90-R). To assess alterations in the patients' descriptions of their symptoms as therapy proceeded, criteria for clinically significant changes were laid down. The results show there is a clear link between the patient's subjective assessment of his/her interpersonal problems at the beginning of therapy and the outcome of treatment. The patients whose symptoms had diminished most by the end of treatment were those who reported having the most severe interpersonal difficulties ...