TREATMENT GOALS AND STRATEGIES OF COGNITIVE-BEHAVIORAL AND PSYCHODYNAMIC THERAPISTS - A NATURALISTIC INVESTIGATION

The therapeutic goals and strategies of cognitive-behavioral and psych odynamic practitioners were investigated. Fifteen therapists in each g roup responded to four case vignettes, all of which contained clear ev idence of an Axis I disorder, but only two of which noted explicitly t he presence of interpersonal difficulties. There were no between-group differences in commitment to resolving the presenting Axis I disorder and both groups were equally committed to the use of behavioral strat egies. Psychodynamic therapists indicated significantly greater intere st in pursuing nonsymptomatic goals and exploratory strategies across all vignettes. Cognitive-behavioral and psychodynamic therapists were equally committed to the resolution of interpersonal problems when the y were clearly defined in the vignettes, but the latter group was sign ificantly more likely to endorse goals involving interpersonal change in the vignettes without evidence of explicit interpersonal difficulti es.