Improvement in Psychodynamic Psychotherapy for Depression: A Qualitative Study of the Patients’ Perspective

André Løvgren, Jan Ivar Røssberg, Eivind Engebretsen and Randi Ulberg
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André Løvgren: Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo university hospital, P.O. Box 4959 Nydalen, N-0424 Oslo, Norway
Jan Ivar Røssberg: Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo university hospital, P.O. Box 4959 Nydalen, N-0424 Oslo, Norway
Eivind Engebretsen: Institute of Health and Society, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1130 Blindern, 0318 Oslo, Norway
Randi Ulberg: Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1171 Blindern, 0318 Oslo, Norway

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 18, 1-16

Abstract: The patient’s perspective on improvement in psychotherapy is crucial for tailoring the therapy he or she is receiving. The present study aimed at exploring the factors aiding and the patients’ experiences of improvement in time-limited psychodynamic psychotherapy for depression. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted with ten adult patients who received up to 28 sessions of manualized psychodynamic psychotherapy in the Norwegian study “Mechanisms of change in psychotherapy” (the MOP study). The post-therapy interviews addressed the participants’ experiences from therapy. The data were analyzed with thematic content analysis and hermeneutic interpretation. The analysis identified four helpful dimensions: “Therapist activities” comprised supporting and acknowledging, advising and offering tips for everyday life, questioning and pressuring. “Patient activities” included opening up, caring for oneself and showing agency. “Facilitators” for improvement were learning from therapy, learning to receive therapy and agreed goals. “Achievements” comprised new perspectives and understandings, increased self-awareness and mastery and changed thinking and feeling. Improvements from psychodynamic therapy seemed reliant on the degree to which the therapy could activate and be relevant to the patients’ everyday life. Tailoring therapy for patients with depression should link the focus on symptoms and ways of thinking and feeling with their life circumstances.

Keywords: improvement; depression; psychodynamic psychotherapy; patients’ perspective; qualitative study (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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