Progress in Psychotherapy: The Perspective of Control-Mastery Theory

2021 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 131-159
Author(s):  
Martina Rodomonti ◽  
Eleonora Fiorenza ◽  
Francesco Gazzillo ◽  
Nino Dazzi

In the classical psychoanalytic tradition, the patient is seen as unconsciously governed by forces that are at odds with the healing process. But over the years, the concept of resistance against change has been subjected to modifications, and the patient's contribution to the therapeutic relationship has come to be seen as more oriented to a conscious and unconscious collaboration with the clinician. This article aims to explore a new way of understanding how progress in psychotherapy is achieved and to reframe the therapeutic relationship from the point of view of Control-Mastery Theory (CMT). According to CMT, people are motivated to achieve adaptive goals, to master their traumas, and to feel better; to this purpose, patients unconsciously assume proactive roles in the therapeutic process. Indeed, they work during therapy to disprove their pathogenic beliefs, testing them in the therapeutic relationship, and helping the therapist through coaching behaviors, attitudes, and communications aimed at providing helpful information to understand the components of their own unconscious plan.

2021 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Martina Rodomonti ◽  
Francesco Fedeli ◽  
Emma De Luca ◽  
Francesco Gazzillo ◽  
Marshall Bush

Author(s):  
Eunice Barbosa ◽  
Maria Amendoeira ◽  
Tiago Ferreira ◽  
Ana Sofia Teixeira ◽  
José Pinto-Gouveia ◽  
...  

This study aims to clarify the roles of immersion and distancing (that is, reflection on an experience from an egocentric point of view or as an observer, respectively) on therapeutic change analyzing i) the evolution of these two perspectives across the resolution of a clinical problem, and ii) the relationship between immersion/distancing with symptoms and emotional arousal. We extracted all the passages of speech pertaining to the most relevant clinical problem of a good outcome case of depression undergoing cognitive-behavioral therapy. We assessed the distancing/immersion of these extracts using the Measure of Immersed and Distanced Speech, and emotional arousal with the Client Emotional Arousal Scale-III. The symptoms were assessed from the Beck Depression Inventory-II and Outcome Questionnaire-10.2. Immersion was associated with symptoms and negative emotions, while distancing was associated with clinical well being and positive emotions. Immersion was still dominant when depressive symptoms were below the clinical threshold. Clinical change was associated with a decrease in immersion and an increase in distancing. The dominance of immersion does not necessarily indicate a bad outcome.


2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 002-011

Oxygen is the essential element required for proper physiological function of cells, tissues and organs within healthy human body. Thanks to its intricate structure, the skin provides a multiprotective barrier against traumatic and non-traumatic injuries, but also a complex and successful self-healing process of the affected tissue. In the particular case of chronic skin wounds, such as diabetic foot ulcer wounds, there is an immediate demand to develop alternative procedures that prevent infection, speed up healing and eliminate any disrupting factor that may interfere with the therapeutic process. Given the importance of oxygen during wound healing cascade, impressive attention was oriented towards the fabrication of oxygen-releasing wound dressings.


2009 ◽  
pp. 191-214
Author(s):  
Mauro Fornaro

- After having stated that the notion of validation is wider than the notion of empirical verification, the Author stresses that psychotherapy research, though epistemologically necessary, in principle and for factual reasons cannot work as a substitute of all the particularities of clinical experience. This detailed critical analysis is not aimed at condemning empirical research, but at sharpening research methods and techniques, especially considering the dimensions of subjectivity, in order to integrate research with clinical experience. Nevertheless, the programmatic choice of empirical research to use - for reasons of "scientific objectivity" - a point of view which is external to the therapeutic relationship proposes again the gap between an empirical-objective approach (the world how it is) and a phenomenologicalsubjective approach (the world how I feel it and experience it).KEY WORDS: psychotherapy research, epistemology, integration, phenomenological approach, clinical experience


2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 881-892
Author(s):  
Michal Tannenbaum ◽  
Eden Har

Immigration is a crisis-prone, complex process, often involving the need to acquire a new language, frequently at the expense of the mother tongue. Thus, the phenomenon of immigrants requiring various forms of mental health assistance while having limited fluency in the therapist’s language is widespread. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has become a widely prevalent therapeutic approach in many countries, including countries absorbing immigrants. This article reviews case studies that relate to the use of CBT with immigrants, both in individual and group sessions, focusing on the position of the patient’s mother tongue in the process. Research has persistently shown that the mother tongue is emotionally significant—using it, being exposed to it, expressing emotions and understanding emotions expressed in it, having access to it and to memories encoded in it, and the like. Given these dimensions, it plays a potentially important role in the therapeutic process. The pivotal question, then, is whether a therapeutic process that is essentially emotional can be effective if the mother tongue is not an inherent part of it. This article addresses this issue while examining the mother tongue’s position in CBT, the therapists’ awareness of these issues, the accommodations, if any, made in this regard, the therapists’ point of view, and suggestions for improving the use of CBT with immigrants. It is written to be of relevance to a diverse audience including researchers from varied disciplinary backgrounds, therapists who work with multilingual patients (especially immigrants or members of other minority groups) or are multilingual themselves. Our aims, therefore, are to contribute to the theoretical understanding of the mother tongue’s centrality in emotional processes and to offer some practical recommendations for therapists and training institutions.


2007 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 494-503 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isa Sammet ◽  
Falk Leichsenring ◽  
Henning Schauenburg ◽  
Sylke Andreas

1995 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Toolan ◽  
Shirley Coleman

A number of approaches exist within the field of music therapy. Some models for evaluating the efficacy of therapy have been adopted in the UK in recent years. These have measured the occurrence of specific behaviours within therapy, or compared music therapy with other interventions. There is a need to find reasonably reliable methods of describing change and the therapeutic process occurring within music therapy. This paper describes change occurring in five people with learning disabilities, in terms of their levels of engagement in therapy and in the therapeutic relationship. A method is provided, to evaluate independent observers ‘perceptions of change in the patients over a 30-session period of therapy. A significant increase in levels of engagement over time was found. It was also found that the degree of change over time was not related to the mean level of engagement. We discuss some subtle factors involved in therapeutic engagement for the five patients in the study, and stress the importance of a therapy which emphasises the dynamics of interpersonal communication for people with limited opportunities to express thoughts and emotions.


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