Process and Outcome in psychotherapeutic practice
- Project Lead: Thomas Probst, Danube University Krems / Department of Psychotherapy
- Project Partner: Karl Landsteiner University of Health Sciences / [aufgelassen] Psychotherapy- and Counselling Sciences study programme
- Duration: 60 months starting from 01.05.2020
Background
While most studies on the effectiveness of psychotherapy have been carried out in research institutions, only a few were conducted under clinically representative conditions. In order to close this research gap, clinically representative psychotherapy outcome studies have been carried out in other countries such as Germany and Switzerland in recent years. For Austria, however, there are no representative data on the effectiveness of psychotherapy under practical conditions available.
herefore, the present study aims to investigate individual psychotherapies under practical conditions in outpatient treatment. In addition to the effectiveness (outcome), the process of psychotherapy is also examined. As a process variable, the focus lies on the therapeutic alliance. Emphasis will be placed here on researching the influence of the gender combination in the therapeutic dyad with their benefits and risks. .
For this purpose, outpatient individual psychotherapy of adult patients, carried out by trained psychotherapists who are registered in the list of psychotherapists of the Federal Ministry of Social Affairs, Health, Care and Consumer Protection, is studied. Quantitative and qualitative research methods are combined in an elaborate design. While the quantitative part is based on standardized questionnaires to collect data on the research question in terms of its dimensions and depth, in the qualitative part the fine nuances shades of the therapeutic elements and therapeutic dynamics, which are difficult to grasp, are revealed by problem-centered semi-structured interviews with open questions, in particular through the approach of grounded theory and corresponding content analyzes. Each of the participating psychotherapists should include 2-3 patients in the study. The consecutively next patient with whom psychotherapy is started will be invited by the psychotherapist to participate in the study (without selection according to symptoms, severity of suffering, etc.). In this way, the diversity of the patient population will be well represented.
