Transference interpretation and psychotherapy outcome: a systematic review of a no-consensus relationship
Accepted: April 18, 2024
SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: 67
HTML: 28
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
Authors
Despite its well-established importance in psychoanalytic theory, there is a scarcity of empirical evidence on the relationship between a therapist’s transference interpretation (TI) and therapeutic outcome. The current scientific literature shows no consensus on the existence and nature of such an association. Therefore, the present study aimed to systematically review the literature on the link between TI and outcomes in psychodynamic psychotherapies. The American Psychological Association PsycInfo, MEDLINE, and the Web of Science Core Collection were selected as the primary databases for the literature search. Studies were included if they measured the frequency/ concentration of TI in psychodynamic psychotherapy [e.g., transference focused psychotherapy (TFP), supportive-expressive therapy] or compared a treatment group (e.g., high in TI and TFP) with a control group (e.g., low in TI supportive therapy) in an adult population with psychiatric symptoms. Out of 825 retrieved abstracts, 25 articles (21 studies) were included in the final synthesis. 13 out of 21 (62%) studies showed a significant improvement in at least one therapy outcome measure following the use of TI. The present systematic review also revealed high heterogeneity across studies in terms of TI measurement, outcome assessment (e.g., psychiatric symptoms, dynamic change, interpersonal functioning, therapeutic alliance), study design (e.g., experimental, quasi-experimental, naturalistic), patient population (e.g., anxiety disorders, personality disorders), and types of treatment (e.g., TFP, supportive-expressive therapy), preventing researchers from asserting solid conclusions. The results strongly highlight the urgent need for highquality research to understand which types of patients, how, and when TIs could be effective throughout the therapy process.
How to Cite
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
PAGEPress has chosen to apply the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0) to all manuscripts to be published.
Similar Articles
- Kirk D. Mochrie, John Lothes II, Eric Guendner, Jane St. John, DBT-informed treatment in a partial hospital and intensive outpatient program: the role of step-down care , Research in Psychotherapy: Psychopathology, Process and Outcome: Vol. 23 No. 2 (2020)
- Tommaso Boldrini, Marco Solmi, Introduction to the Special Section on Clinical High Risk for Mental Illness: Transdiagnostic Framework, Detection Strategies, Assessment, Treatment and Outcome , Research in Psychotherapy: Psychopathology, Process and Outcome: Vol. 23 No. 1 (2020)
- Sara Silva, Eunice Barbosa, João Salgado, Carla Cunha, Portuguese validation of the credibility/expectancy questionnaire in routine practice , Research in Psychotherapy: Psychopathology, Process and Outcome: Vol. 24 No. 1 (2021)
- Alessandro Gennaro, Omar C. G. Gelo, Gloria Lagetto, Sergio Salvatore, A systematic review of psychotherapy research topics (2000-2016): a computer-assisted approach , Research in Psychotherapy: Psychopathology, Process and Outcome: Vol. 22 No. 3 (2019)
You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.