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Relationships between the object focus of therapist interpretations and outcome in short‐term individual psychotherapy
Author(s) -
Piper William E.,
Debbane Elie G.,
Bienvenu JeanPierre,
Carufel François,
Garant Jacques
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
british journal of medical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.102
H-Index - 62
eISSN - 2044-8341
pISSN - 0007-1129
DOI - 10.1111/j.2044-8341.1986.tb02659.x
Subject(s) - outcome (game theory) , psychology , psychotherapist , term (time) , object (grammar) , focus (optics) , object relations theory , clinical psychology , psychoanalytic theory , artificial intelligence , physics , mathematics , mathematical economics , quantum mechanics , optics , computer science
The relationships between the object (person) focus of therapist interpretations and outcome were examined for 21 patients who received short‐term individual psychotherapy. Percentages of single objects and linked objects, e.g. therapist‐parent link, were derived from an analysis of the therapy sessions. Patients, therapists and an independent assessor provided pre‐therapy, post‐therapy and six‐month follow‐up outcome scores. Contrary to other reports in the literature little evidence was found to support the hypothesis of a direct linear relationship between object focus and favourable outcome. Several explanations for the findings are discussed.