Top

Published in:

01-06-2020 | Original Paper

Relationships Between Categories: The Context of the Symptom in Practice

Author: Merav Rabinovich

Published in: Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy | Issue 2/2020

Abstract

The current paper introduces a clinical method for experience-near interpretation of transference patterns taking place in the symptom context. This research is a qualitative metasynthetic study. The method of Luborsky’s Core Conflictual Relationship Themes was conducted here on 33 transference case studies published in peer-reviewed journals and sourced from an appropriate database. Case components were categorized and relationships between them were analyzed using the method of Relationship Between Categories. We found that transferential components observed in the context of the symptom were a powerful source of distress. These components were found to be interlinked in patterns of two, three or four core categories. Based on these findings we suggest a therapeutic method that enhances self-understanding and maps out milestones for change. The suggested method is sensitive to a set of the patients’ covert associations, which thus becomes a key to undermining the unconscious balance between healthy and pathologic urges.

Bernstein, J., Zimmerman, M., & Auchincloss, E. L. (2015). Transference-focused psychotherapy training during residency: An aide to learning psychodynamic psychotherapy. Psychodynamic Psychiatry,43, 201–221.PubMed

Buirski, P., & Monroe, M. (2004). Intersubjective observations on transference love. Psychoanalytic Psychology,17, 78–87.

Casement, P. (1985). On learning from the patient. London: Tavistock.

Cohen, J. (1968). Weighted kappa: Nominal scale agreement provision for scaled disagreement or partial credit. Psychological Bulletin,70(4), 213–220.PubMed

Crits-Christoph, P., & Luborsky, L. (1998). Change in CCRT pervasiveness during psychotherapy. Understanding transference: The Core Conflictual Relationship Theme method (2nd ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Crits-Christoph, P., Luborsky, L., Dahl, L., Popp, C., Mellon, J., & Mark, D. (1988). Clinicians can agree in assessing relationship patterns in psychotherapy. The core conflictual relationship theme method. Archives of General Psychiatry,45, 1001–1004.PubMed

Emery, E. J. (1987). Empathy: Psychoanalytic and client centered. American Psychologist,42, 513–515.

Foster, R. P. (1992). Psychoanalysis and the bilingual patient: Some observations on the influence of language choice on the transference. Psychoanalytic Psychology,9, 61–76.

Freud, S. (1912). The dynamics of transference. In Standard edition (Vol. 12, pp. 209–253). London: Hogarth Press.

Freud, S. (1913). On beginning the treatment. In Standard edition (Vol. 12, pp. 121–144). London: Hogarth Press.

Freud, S. (1914). Remembering, repeating, and working through. In Standard edition (Vol. 12, pp. 145–156). London: Hogarth Press.

Freud, S. (1923). The ego and the id. In Standard edition (Vol. 19, pp. 12–66). London: Hogarth Press.

Frosch, A. (2002). Transference: Psychic reality and material reality. Psychoanalytic Psychology,19, 603–633.

Gelso, C. J., Palma, B., & Bhatia, A. (2013). Attachment theory as a guide to understanding and working with transference and the real relationship in psychotherapy. Journal of Clinical Psychology,69, 1160–1171.PubMed

Gerald, C. C., Michelle, C. H., & Buttu, D. (2010). Recognizing odors associated with meaningful places. American Journal of Psychology,123, 281–293.

Goldberg, A. (1997). Writing case histories. International Journal of Psycho-Analysis,78, 435–438.PubMed

Greenson, R. R. (1965). The working alliance and the transference neurosis. Psychoanalytic Quarterly,34, 155–181.PubMed

Guest, G., Bunce, A., & Johnson, L. (2006). How many interviews are enough? An experiment with data saturation and variability. Field Methods,18(1), 59–82.

Hobbs, N. (1962). Sources of gain in psychotherapy. American Psychologist,17, 741–747.

Jou, J. (2005). Memory retrieval tasks determine the serial position curves of linear orders with categorical structures. The American Journal of Psychology,118, 525–566.PubMed

Kacen, L. (2008). Supercodes reflected in titles battered women accord to their life stories. International Journal of Qualitative Methods,1, 49–60.

Kavaler-Adler, S. (2003). Lesbian homoerotic transference in dialectic with developmental mourning: On the way to symbolism from the protosymbolic. Psychoanalytic Psychology,20, 131–152.

Kellogg, S. H., & Young, J. E. (2006). Schema therapy for borderline personality disorder. Journal of Clinical Psychology,62, 445–480.PubMed

Kernberg, O. F., Yeomans, F. E., Clarkin, J. F., & Levy, K. N. (2008). Transference focused psychotherapy: Overview and update. International Journal of Psychoanalysis,89, 601–620.PubMed

Luborsky, L. E. (1996). The symptom-context method: Symptoms as opportunities in psychotherapy. Washington, DC: APA Books.

Luborsky, L. (1998). A guide to the CCRT method. In L. Luborsky & P. Crits-Christoph (Eds.), Understanding transference: The Core Conflictual Relationship Theme method (2nd ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Luborsky, L., & Crits-Christoph, R. (2006). A relationship pattern measure: The core conflictual relationship theme. In A. M. Cooper (Ed.), Contemporary psychoanalysis in America: Leading analysts present their work (pp. 383–400). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Publishing.

Luborsky, L., & Diguer, L. (1998). The reliability of CCRT measure: Results from eight studies. In L. Luborsky & P. Crits-Christoph (Eds.), Understanding transference: The core conflictual relationship theme method (2nd ed., pp. 97–107). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Luborsky, L., & Luborsky, E. (2006). Research and psychotherapy: The vital link. Lanham, MD: Jason Aronson.

Mosak, H. H., & Fasula, A. (2011). Transference in the Light of Adlerian Psychology. Journal of Individual Psychology,67, 343–348.

Parker, L. M., & Grenyer, B. F. (2007). New developments in core conflictual relationship theme (CCRT) research: A comparison of the QUAINT and CCRT–LU coding systems. Psychotherapy Research,17(4), 443–449.

Rabinovich, M. (2016). Psychodynamic emotional regulation in view of Wolpe’s desensitization model. The American Journal of Psychology,129, 65–79.PubMed

Rabinovich, M., & Kacen, L. (2009). Let’s look at the elephant: Metasynthesis of transference case studies for psychodynamic and cognitive psychotherapy integration. Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice,82, 427–447.

Rabinovich, M., & Kacen, L. (2010). Advanced relationships between categories analysis as a qualitative research tool. Journal of Clinical Psychology,66, 698–708.PubMed

Rabinovich, M., & Kacen, L. (2011). Wish and overgeneralization model for psychotherapy integration. Journal of Psychotherapy Integration,21, 43–69.

Rabinovich, M., & Kacen, L. (2012). Transference in view of a classical conditioning model. American Journal of Psychology,125, 209–223.PubMed

Rabinovich, M., & Kacen, L. (2013). Qualitative coding methodology for interpersonal study. Psychoanalytic Psychology,30, 210–231.

Rilling, M. (2000). John Watson’s paradoxical struggle to explain Freud. American Psychologist,55, 301–312.PubMed

Sieck, B. C. (2012). Obtaining clinical writing informed consent versus using client disguise and recommendations for practice. Psychotherapy,49(1), 3–11.PubMed

Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. (1990). Open coding. In A. Strauss & J. Corbin (Eds.), Basics of qualitative research: Grounded theory procedures and techniques (pp. 101–121). Thousand Oaks: Sage.

Strupp, H. H. (1989). Psychotherapy: Can the practitioner learn from the researcher? American Psychologist,44, 717–724.PubMed

Sullivan, H. S. (1950). The illusion of personal individuality. Psychiatry,13, 317–332.PubMed

Sullivan, H. S. (1953). The interpersonal theory of psychiatry. New York: Norton.

Woodhouse, S. S., Schlosser, L. Z., Crook, R. E., Ligiéro, D. P., & Gelso, C. J. (2003). Client attachment to therapist: Relations to transference and client recollections of parental caregiving. Journal of Counseling Psychology,50, 395–408.

Young, W. (1992). The emergence of the transference storm in the psychoanalytic process. Psychoanalytic Psychology,9, 213–230.

Young, J. E., Klosko, J. S., & Weishaar, M. E. (2003). Schema therapy: A practitioner’s guide. New York: Guilford Press.

Title: Relationships Between Categories: The Context of the Symptom in Practice
Author: Merav Rabinovich
Publication date: 01-06-2020
Publisher: Springer US
Published in: Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy / Issue 2/2020
Print ISSN: 0022-0116
Electronic ISSN: 1573-3564
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10879-019-09445-4

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

Springer Medicine

Relationships Between Categories: The Context of the Symptom in Practice

Abstract

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

Springer Medicine

Abstract

Please log in to get access to this content

Other articles of this Issue 2/2020

Enhancing Empathy in Emotion-Focused Group Therapy for Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Case Conceptualization Model for Interpersonal Rupture and Repair

Peggilee Wupperman: Treating Impulsive, Addictive, and Self-Destructive Behaviors: Mindfulness and Modification Therapy

50 Years of Psychotherapy: Erudition, Evolution, and Evaluation

Young Women Treating Men with Borderline Personality Disorder: A Challenge for Psychotherapy Integration

Early Maladaptive Schemas and Cognitive Fusion on the Regulation of Psychological Needs

Effects of Dialectical Behavior Therapy on Executive Functions, Emotion Regulation, and Mindfulness in Bipolar Disorder