AFFECTIVE DYADIC BEHAVIOR, CORE CONFLICTUAL RELATIONSHIP THEMES, AND SUCCESS OF TREATMENT

In 11 brief therapeutic treatments, affective facial behavior of thera pists and patients as well as the latter's Core Conflictual Relationsh ip Themes (CCRTs) were investigated and related to treatment outcome. It has been found that compensatory not reciprocal affective facial be havior of the therapeutic dyad in the first session is indicative of s uccess. A scale describing reciprocity vs. compensation in facial beha vior correlated significantly positively with self-reports of outcome and symptom change. Two psychoanalytic treatments, one with the highes t reciprocity and least success fate and one with the highest success rate and high compensation, were analyzed in detail according to the t emporal development of affect exchange and narration through the cours e of the complete treatment. In both therapies the frequency of narrat ives were negatively correlated with the frequency of facial affects o f the patient, so that the hypothesis of a parallel processing of affe ctive facial behavior and narration could be ruled out. In the success ful treatment, the therapist showed those affects during the narration of the patient which could have been expected from the latter. A very distinct temporal organization within the successful treatment includ ing an enactment period, a period of instability, and a period of cons olidation, contrasted with a homogenous distribution of affect in the unsuccessful one. The relevance of these results for a theory of the t herapeutic process is discussed.