Emma Freetly Porter, Negar Aghassizadeh, Luke Ryan
{"title":"Therapist intrapersonal factors and rupture repair: Professional self-doubt, self-compassion, and repair strategies in a simulated cultural rupture task.","authors":"Emma Freetly Porter, Negar Aghassizadeh, Luke Ryan","doi":"10.1080/10503307.2026.2710325","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10503307.2026.2710325","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>Ruptures are consequential moments in psychotherapy requiring therapists to remain engaged and responsive. Cultural ruptures may be especially challenging for trainee therapists. This study examined whether professional self-doubt (PSD) and self-compassion (SC) were associated with trainee therapists' use of repair strategies in response to video-simulated cultural rupture vignettes.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>Graduate-level trainees (N = 88) responded to cultural rupture video stimuli. Responses were coded using the Rupture Resolution Rating System (3RS) to assess different types of repair. Multilevel models examined associations between therapist-level characteristics and repair strategy use across vignette responses. Time in training was included as a moderator.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Main effects showed higher levels of PSD were associated with lower use of exploration and acknowledgment repair strategies. SC was not significantly associated with repair strategy use. Time in training was positively associated with utilization of all repair strategies. No significant interaction effects were found.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Trainees reporting higher PSD may be less likely to engage in exploration or acknowledgment repair during cultural ruptures, and training level may lead to greater utilization of repair strategies generally. These findings highlight PSD as a potential target for training and research on therapist responsiveness in cultural rupture contexts.</p>","PeriodicalId":48159,"journal":{"name":"Psychotherapy Research","volume":" ","pages":"1-13"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2026-07-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148622145","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Christian Sell, Jenny L Eis, Matthias Volz, Günther Klug, J Christopher Muran, Dorothea Huber
{"title":"Collaborative working models of alliance rupture repair: A theory-building case study.","authors":"Christian Sell, Jenny L Eis, Matthias Volz, Günther Klug, J Christopher Muran, Dorothea Huber","doi":"10.1080/10503307.2026.2709435","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10503307.2026.2709435","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p><b>Objective:</b> Although rupture repair is a core process in psychotherapy, its mechanisms remain insufficiently understood. In this theory-building case study, we used an explanatory sequential mixed-method design to examine dyadic processes underlying successful versus unsuccessful withdrawal rupture repair. <b>Method:</b> We observer-rated rupture and repair across N = 81 video-recorded sessions of a successful psychodynamic psychotherapy. We applied Exponentially Weighted Moving Average control charting to identify two treatment phases with above-average success in rupture repair, and one phase with below-average repair. Sessions from these phases were analyzed using grounded theory coding informed by sensitizing concepts derived from a clinical discussion group. <b>Results:</b> The analysis yielded the core category of a collaborative working model of rupture repair. During the high-repair phases, therapist and patient tacitly established a shared interactional framework and a case-specific way of intuitively negotiating emotional intensity through multiple parameters. In the lower-repair phase, this collaborative working model could no longer be applied effectively, coinciding with changes in the treatment context that altered the transference-countertransference dynamics. <b>Conclusion:</b> The findings suggest that developing and sustaining a collaborative working model of rupture repair may be crucial for navigating impasses and highlight the importance of understanding the alliance as an emergent, dyadic process.</p>","PeriodicalId":48159,"journal":{"name":"Psychotherapy Research","volume":" ","pages":"1-20"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2026-07-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148608775","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Rose Mortimer, Dominika Iluczyk, Elizabeth Li, Jakob Mechler, Karin Lindqvist, Gerhard Andersson, Nick Midgley, Henry Clements
{"title":"What is known about mediators, moderators and predictors of change in psychodynamic internet-delivered interventions for mental health? A systematic review and narrative synthesis.","authors":"Rose Mortimer, Dominika Iluczyk, Elizabeth Li, Jakob Mechler, Karin Lindqvist, Gerhard Andersson, Nick Midgley, Henry Clements","doi":"10.1080/10503307.2026.2692602","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10503307.2026.2692602","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p><b>Objective:</b> This systematic review aims to synthesize and critically appraise existing research on mediators, moderators, and predictors of change in psychodynamic internet-delivered interventions (IDIs) for mental health. <b>Methods:</b> A systematic search of eight databases was conducted for studies published between January 2010 and May 2024 (PROSPERO ID: CRD42024533590). <b>Results:</b> Eleven studies met inclusion criteria, predominantly conducted in Sweden, and focused on therapist-guided psychodynamic IDIs. The most frequently studied mediators included emotion regulation, emotion processing, and therapeutic alliance, with evidence suggesting that improvements in emotion regulation and processing significantly mediate symptom reduction. Few studies examined moderators, with limited evidence that demographic variables influence outcomes. Significant predictors of change included baseline emotion regulation difficulties, which were associated with greater symptom improvement, and therapeutic alliance, which predicted treatment response. <b>Conclusion:</b> Findings highlight the role of emotional processing and regulation as possible mechanisms of change, aligning with theoretical models of psychodynamic therapy. The relationship between alliance, emotional change processes, and treatment outcomes points to the importance of the therapeutic relationship in facilitating change. The small and heterogeneous evidence base makes it difficult to draw firm conclusions, but highlights a need for methodologically rigorous and theory-driven research to clarify causal pathways and optimize intervention effectiveness.</p>","PeriodicalId":48159,"journal":{"name":"Psychotherapy Research","volume":" ","pages":"1-17"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2026-07-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148550913","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Anuj H P Mehta, Michael J Constantino, Alice E Coyne, Anaya Rohira, Leslie R Atkinson, R Michael Bagby, Paula Ravitz, Carolina McBride
{"title":"Baseline social inhibition and age as moderators of the within-patient alliance-outcome link in treatments for depression.","authors":"Anuj H P Mehta, Michael J Constantino, Alice E Coyne, Anaya Rohira, Leslie R Atkinson, R Michael Bagby, Paula Ravitz, Carolina McBride","doi":"10.1080/10503307.2026.2705902","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10503307.2026.2705902","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>Given depression's well-established interpersonal underpinnings, relational processes may be especially relevant in treating this condition. Indeed, research has demonstrated a positive total alliance-outcome association across depression-focused therapies. However, fewer studies have examined this correlation at the within-patient level, which points to the germaneness of \"state-like\" relationship fluctuations to treatment outcomes. Even less work has examined whether diagnostic and non-diagnostic patient characteristics moderate this within-patient alliance-outcome association. Across two comparably effective therapies, we tested the hypothesis that within-patient alliance improvements would relate to greater subsequent depression improvement. We also tested the hypothesis that this association would be especially beneficial for patients reporting more social inhibition-an interpersonal problem prototypical of depression. Finally, because aging influences individuals' motivation and need for formative relationships, we explored whether age would moderate the within-patient alliance-outcome link.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>Eighty adults with depression were randomized to 16 sessions of cognitive-behavioral or interpersonal psychotherapy.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>As hypothesized, positive alliance shifts were associated with subsequent depression reduction, and this association was stronger for patients reporting more problematic baseline social inhibition. For our exploratory aim, age did not moderate this within-patient association.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Results illuminate the roles of patient interpersonal characteristics and relational processes in psychosocial treatments for depression.</p>","PeriodicalId":48159,"journal":{"name":"Psychotherapy Research","volume":" ","pages":"1-12"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2026-07-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148563317","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Use of repair strategies and therapeutic alliance in child psychotherapy: therapists' reports.","authors":"Sharon Ostfeld-Etzion","doi":"10.1080/10503307.2026.2701033","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10503307.2026.2701033","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>This study examined rupture-repair processes in child psychotherapy, focusing on therapist-reported repair strategies and their relation to child therapeutic alliance. The role of parental alliance and child's diagnostic profile in shaping rupture type and severity was also examined.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Ninety-four child psychotherapists attended workshops on rupture and repair strategies adapted for children and reported on a single therapy session with children aged 3-13. Therapists completed measures of child and parent alliance, rupture type and intensity, and reported interventions based on 3RS repair strategies adapted for children. ANOVAs were used to assess group comparability; multiple linear regressions tested associations among child alliance, rupture intensity, repair strategies, parental alliance, and diagnostic group; and chi-square tests examined the association between diagnostic group and rupture type.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Parental alliance was the strongest predictor of child alliance. Repair strategy frequency was positively associated with child alliance. Unexpectedly, rupture intensity was positively associated with child alliance. More intense ruptures elicited a greater number of therapist interventions. Confrontation ruptures were more common in externalizing disorders, whereas withdrawal ruptures predominated among internalizing disorders.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Findings highlight parental alliance and frequency of developmentally adapted rupture-repair strategy use as important correlates of therapeutic alliance in child psychotherapy.</p>","PeriodicalId":48159,"journal":{"name":"Psychotherapy Research","volume":" ","pages":"1-14"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2026-07-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148521073","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Monitoring session reactions in psychotherapy practice: Psychometric evaluation of the Session Reactions Scale-3-Brief (SRS-3-B) in Czech and Slovak versions.","authors":"Tomáš Řiháček, Valentína Cviková","doi":"10.1080/10503307.2026.2704062","DOIUrl":"10.1080/10503307.2026.2704062","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>This study aimed to assess the psychometric properties of the Czech and Slovak versions of the brief version of the Session Reactions Scale-3 (SRS-3-B). The SRS-3-B was constructed to be used and interpreted primarily at the item level, but it yields scale and subscale scores as well. Therefore, psychometric analysis focused on both the item and scale levels.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>Czech (<i>N</i> = 231) and Slovak (<i>N</i> = 235) samples were collected via an online survey. At the item level, item distributional properties, item redundancy, and construct and convergent validity were assessed. At the scale level, the factor structure, reliability, and convergent validity were assessed.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The items demonstrated reasonable response distribution, non-redundance, construct validity, and convergent validity at the item level. At the scale level, a two-factor solution was selected as the most meaningful and was invariant at the metric level across the Czech, Slovak, and English versions. The total scale and the subscales demonstrated reasonable reliability and convergent validity.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The Czech and Slovak versions of the SRS-3-B are valid process measures. They can be used to elicit rich and clinically meaningful feedback from clients within the context of measurement-based care.</p>","PeriodicalId":48159,"journal":{"name":"Psychotherapy Research","volume":" ","pages":"1-16"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2026-07-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148498284","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Conceptual problems and questionable evidence in defining non-inferiority margins - a reply to Flückiger et al.","authors":"Falk Leichsenring, Nikolas Heim, Christiane Steinert","doi":"10.1080/10503307.2026.2701025","DOIUrl":"10.1080/10503307.2026.2701025","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>From 19 meta-analyses comparing active bona fide treatments, Flückiger et al. (2026) recently calculated a between-group effect size (SMD) of -0.17 for primary outcomes and of -0.16 for secondary outcomes. They suggested using these effect sizes as empirically derived non-inferiority margins. However, Flückiger et al.'s approach is conceptually problematic and lacks empirical support. Without a rationale, empirically found differences between active treatments cannot per se be regarded as non-inferiority margins.</p>","PeriodicalId":48159,"journal":{"name":"Psychotherapy Research","volume":" ","pages":"1-3"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2026-07-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148457347","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Early therapeutic alliance and trajectories of change across in-person therapy and teletherapy with couples.","authors":"Jamie Blalock, Suzanne Bartle-Haring, Jessica Cless","doi":"10.1080/10503307.2026.2701034","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10503307.2026.2701034","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>Teletherapy has demonstrated outcomes comparable to in-person treatment, yet less is known about how early therapeutic processes and change trajectories unfold across modalities in couple therapy. This study examined whether early alliance predicts outcomes and change trajectories and whether these associations differ by modality and initial distress.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>Data were drawn from 266 different-sex couples at university-based training clinics (2020-2024). Alliance was assessed via the Session Rating Scale (SRS) and functioning via the Outcome Rating Scale (ORS), using dyadic models and latent growth curve analyses.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Early alliance predicted outcomes for female but not male partners, with no significant differences across modalities. Greater attendance predicted better outcomes; higher initial distress predicted poorer outcomes, with stronger effects for women in in-person therapy. ORS scores followed a nonlinear trajectory characterized by rapid early improvement followed by stabilization.. In teletherapy, higher alliance was associated with a gradual rate of early improvement. Partner distress reduced improvement for female partners.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Early change was characterized by rapid gains followed by stabilization across both modalities. However, alliance predicted outcomes for female but not male partners, and partner distress constrained improvement among female partners, underscoring the importance of dyadic processes in couple therapy.</p>","PeriodicalId":48159,"journal":{"name":"Psychotherapy Research","volume":" ","pages":"1-14"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2026-07-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148473543","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ole Klungsøyr, Jan Ivar Røssberg, Costas Papageorgiou, Julie Horgen Evensen, André Løvgren, Anders Malkomsen, Kåre Osnes, Randi Ulberg, Theresa Wilberg, Toril Dammen
{"title":"Personalized and optimal treatment estimated by a value search method in a randomized clinical trial with psychodynamic versus cognitive behavioral therapy for depression.","authors":"Ole Klungsøyr, Jan Ivar Røssberg, Costas Papageorgiou, Julie Horgen Evensen, André Løvgren, Anders Malkomsen, Kåre Osnes, Randi Ulberg, Theresa Wilberg, Toril Dammen","doi":"10.1080/10503307.2026.2682995","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10503307.2026.2682995","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>To estimate an optimal treatment selection in data from a recent RCT comparing short-term psychodynamic (STPP) and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for depression.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>An estimator from causal inference with a <math><mi>value</mi><mspace></mspace><mi>search</mi></math> optimization was applied to estimate the optimal treatment choice for 100 patients diagnosed with major depressive disorder. Cross-validated prediction was performed, and the population mean outcome under optimal treatment was estimated.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Outcomes (psychosocial functioning and depressive symptoms) for estimated optimal treatment were stratified by treatments received and compared for concordant versus discordant assignments. Large effect sizes were observed (range 0.41-2.07). \"Positive beliefs about rumination\" was found to be an important predictor, with higher baseline levels favoring CBT. An improvement of more than 30% relative to randomized treatment was considered clinically significant. For most patients (75%), CBT was identified as the optimal treatment, whereas patients in the optimal STPP group showed the greatest benefit for concordant assignment.</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>The <math><mi>value</mi><mspace></mspace><mi>search</mi></math> method showed effective personalization, with greater improvement than typically reported in other methods of personalization with similar therapies and outcomes. A simple parametric user-specified treatment regime is easy to interpret, and robustness to model misspecification is appealing. Limited external validity is expected (small sample), and prospective validation is needed to guide clinical treatment selection. Head-to-head comparisons with other methods are required to draw conclusions about relative performance.</p>","PeriodicalId":48159,"journal":{"name":"Psychotherapy Research","volume":" ","pages":"1-25"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2026-07-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148457328","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}