HOW EXPERT CLINICIAN PROTOTYPES OF AN IDEAL TREATMENT CORRELATE WITH OUTCOME IN PSYCHODYNAMIC AND COGNITIVE-BEHAVIORAL THERAPY

This study presents an innovative methodology for identifying the acti ve ingredients in the process of psychotherapy. Panels of experts deve loped prototypes of psychodynamic and cognitive-behavioral therapy usi ng the Psychotherapy Process Q-set. The prototypes were used to assess the extent to which treatments conformed to the prototypes in 3 archi ved treatment samples. The degree to which the treatments adhered to t he prototypes was measured quantitatively and correlated with outcome. The psychodynamic prototype constructed by experts was consistently s ignificantly correlated with positive outcome in both psychodynamic an d cognitive-behavioral therapy. The cognitive-behavioral prototype was not consistently significantly correlated with positive outcome in ei ther type of therapy.