ALLIANCE, TECHNIQUE, AND THEIR INTERACTIONS IN PREDICTING OUTCOME OF BEHAVIORAL, COGNITIVE, AND BRIEF DYNAMIC THERAPY

With depressed elderly patients treated in behavioral (BT), cognitive (CT) or brief dynamic therapy (BDT), the prediction of outcome by alli ance, technique (exploratory and supportive), and their interactions w as examined. The alliance was rated on the CALPAS-R, and technique on the Inventory of Therapeutic Strategies (ITS). In BT, pretherapy depre ssion levels and alliance predicted outcome, as did more exploratory i nterventions provided in the context of poorer alliances at midtherapy . In CT, alliance and exploratory interventions predicted outcome thro ughout treatment, as did more exploratory interventions provided in th e context of poorer alliances at midtherapy. In BDT, some alliance dim ensions predicted outcome throughout treatment, as did exploratory tec hniques at midtherapy; furthermore, the use of exploratory interventio ns in the context of better alliances tended to predict better outcome s, a finding contrary to the ones observed in BT and CT. Therefore, di fferential processes were observed across therapy conditions and phase s.