Toward an experimental analysis of verbal shaping in psychotherapy

AbstractObjective. Some authors have suggested that verbal shaping is an active component in cognitive restructuring. The goal of the current study was to provide experimental evidence in support of the shaping hypothesis.

METHOD

Three consecutively admitted adults with symptoms of anxiety and depression participated in the study. Participants underwent baseline, treatment comparison, crossover, and follow-up phases as part of an experimental single-case study. We selected two target irrational beliefs and praised either the client's approximations to a terminal (more adaptive) class of verbalizations (differential reinforcement of approximations) or just the terminal class of verbalizations (terminal reinforcement).

RESULTS

Irrational beliefs exposed to differential reinforcement of approximations was a more effective approach to reducing irrational beliefs.

CONCLUSION

The study provides experimental evidence in support of the verbal shaping hypothesis. Our findings suggest that it may be possible to enhance clinical outcomes by actively engaging in verbal shaping during client-therapist verbal interaction.

Are changes in children's communication patterns predictive of treatment outcomes for children with anxiety?

Anxiety is the most prevalent childhood psychopathology. Cognitive behavioural therapy is considered the most effective treatment, but outcomes remain variable. This study investigated children's communication patterns in child-therapist conversations and whether changes in these patterns, from rigid to more flexible, were associated with better treatment outcomes. Fifty-three children (31% boys), with a mean age in years of M = 9.68 (SD = 1.85), completed a 12-week cognitive behavioural therapy program. Maternal as well as children's reports of children's anxiety were assessed pretreatment and posttreatment. Additionally, 15-min segments of two therapy sessions were audiotaped and children's conversational turns were coded for properties of response and initiative. The structure of children's communication patterns was further quantified using recurrence quantification analysis. As expected children entering treatment were characterised by rigid and inhibited conversational behaviour. Children who became less repetitive and deterministic over time had better maternal-rated treatment outcomes. These findings did not generalize to child reports. Last, the hypothesis that the positive relation between the breaking of rigid communication patterns and treatment outcome would be mediated by increases in proactive conversational behaviours of the child was only partly supported. These study findings contribute to the emergent literature on processes of change in childhood anxiety treatment by providing initial support for the hypothesis that breaking rigid (communication) patterns may be a prerequisite of clinical change.

Development of the therapeutic language coding system (SICOLENTE): Reliability and construct validity

Since the use of language is a core aspect of psychotherapy, its study requires instruments that allow for further research. The aim of this study is to present an observational instrument capable of analyzing the language used in psychotherapeutic settings, both by therapists and clients. The SICOLENTE instrument was applied to two different samples: The Three Approaches to Psychotherapy film and a naturalistic sample. 7710 utterances from 31 sessions (three from the demonstration film and 28 from a naturalistic setting) were coded. Two studies were conducted: in the first study, inter and intra coder reliability (dimension and category levels) and Generalizability theory analyzes were assessed, whilst in the second study, construct validity was tested with several hypotheses. The final instrument resulted in 20 categories with three dimensions: Conversational Act (7 categories), Therapeutic topic (6 categories) and Content (7 categories). The three dimensions showed excellent inter and intra coder reliability and the generalizability coefficients were excellent. Out of the 24 validity hypothesis proposed,19 were accepted. The finding suggests that the SICOLENTE is a reliable and valid instrument that can be applied to investigate the performance of various theoretical models. Its three dimensional structure gives it the flexibility to be able to carry out macroscopic or microscopic language research.

A Interação Terapêutica em Intervenções com Universitários com Transtorno de Ansiedade Social

Resumo Atualmente, muitas pesquisas têm sido conduzidas para avaliar o papel do terapeuta e do cliente no processo terapêutico. Este trabalho se propôs a analisar sessões de terapia analítico comportamental em intervenções com transtorno de ansiedade social. Vinte e duas sessões de duas díades terapêuticas foram analisadas e categorizadas de acordo com um sistema de categorização de comportamentos (SiMCCIT). Os resultados foram agrupados em frequência e duração nos três momentos da intervenção: Início (primeiras três sessões), Desenvolvimento (cinco sessões intermediárias) e Encerramento (três sessões finais). Os resultados apontam que o papel da terapeuta foi semelhante em ambos os atendimentos, enquanto que os clientes apresentaram algumas diferenças. Houve flexibilidade da terapeuta em adaptar o procedimento de acordo com a necessidade de cada cliente. Foram discutidos aspectos da interação terapêutica que pela análise das categorias permitiu evidenciar uma forma de agir com clientes com transtorno de ansiedade social.