In diary studies, people provide frequent reports on the events and experiences of their daily lives. These reports capture the particulars of experience in a way that is not possible using ...traditional designs. We review the types of research questions that diary methods are best equipped to answer, the main designs that can be used, current technology for obtaining diary reports, and appropriate data analysis strategies. Major recent developments include the use of electronic forms of data collection and multilevel models in data analysis. We identify several areas of research opportunities: 1. in technology, combining electronic diary reports with collateral measures such as ambulatory heart rate; 2. in measurement, switching from measures based on between-person differences to those based on within-person changes; and 3. in research questions, using diaries to (a) explain why people differ in variability rather than mean level, (b) study change processes during major events and transitions, and (c) study interpersonal processes using dyadic and group diary methods.
Shared experience - i.e. commonality in inner states such as feelings, beliefs, or concerns - plays an important role in establishing and maintaining close relationships. Emotional Similarity (ES) ...can be thought of as one type of shared experience, but the exact role it plays in our responses to specific contexts (objects, events, circumstances) is not well understood. We sought to examine the day-level context-dependent roles of romantic partners' ES. We hypothesised that relational events (i.e. conflict and sexual activity) occurring on days with high ES would be more consequential. Two samples (N = 44, N = 80) of committed couples completed daily diaries for three and five weeks, respectively. Each evening, partners reported their currently-felt moods, relationship quality, and the occurrence of conflict and/or sex in the preceding 24 h. ES was operationalised as the profile similarity between the partners' moods on each day. Generally, ES moderated the associations between conflict or sex and relational outcomes: on days marked by greater ES, conflict and sex had stronger negative/positive outcomes, respectively. These findings highlight the importance of considering ES on a momentary basis and suggest that it may function as an amplifier of charged relational events.
Schema Therapy combines proven cognitive behavioral therapy techniques with elements of interpersonal, experiential, and psychodynamic therapies in order to help people with long-term mental health ...problems including personality disorders and chronic depression. Schema Therapy suggests that many negative cognitive conditions are based on past experiences, and therefore provides models for challenging and modifying negative thoughts and behaviors in order to provoke change.
In this book, Eshkol Rafaeli, David P. Bernstein and Jeffrey Young – pioneers of the Schema Therapy approach – indicate the 30 distinctive features of Schema Therapy, and how the method fits into the broader CBT spectrum.
Divided into two parts, Theoretical Points and Practical Points, this book provides a concise introduction for those new to the technique, as well as a discussion of how it differs from the other cognitive behavioral therapies for those experienced in the field.
Part I: Theoretical Points. Universal Core Emotional Needs. Early Maladaptive Schema Development as a Consequence of Unmet Needs. A Taxonomy of Early Maladaptive Schemas. Coping Styles and Responses. Coping Styles: Surrender Responses. Coping Styles: Avoidance Responses. Coping Styles: Overcompensation Responses. Schema Modes as States (The State vs. Trait Distinction). The Wounded Core: Vulnerable Child Mode. Angry and Impulsive Child Modes. Maladaptive Coping Modes. Internalized Parental Modes. Healthy Modes: Healthy Adult, Contented Child. Limited Reparenting. Empathic Confrontation. Part II: Practical Points. The Assessment Process: Focused Life History Interview, Schema Inventories, and Self-monitoring. The Assessment Process: Guided Imagery. The Assessment Process: In-session Behaviours and the Therapy Relationship. Educating the Patient About the Schema and Mode Models, and Using the Schema Case Conceptualization Form. Toolbox 1: Relational Techniques. Toolbox 2: Cognitive Techniques. Toolbox 3: Emotion-focused Techniques. Toolbox 4: Behavioral Pattern Breaking. Mode Dialogues and Imagery. Specific Points for Working with Borderline Personality Disorder. Specific Points for Working with Narcissistic Personality Disorder and Antisocial Personality Disorder. Specific Points for Working with Couples. Interplay Between Schema Therapy for Axis II and CBT for Axis I. The Therapeutic Relationship: Limited Reparenting. Therapists’ Own Schemas.
Eshkol Rafaeli is a Clinical Psychologist specializing in both cognitive behavioral therapy and Schema Therapy and is Associate Professor at Bar-Ilan University.
David P. Bernstein is a Clinical Psychologist and a Cognitive and Schema Therapist, an is Associate Professor in the Faculty of Psychology at Maastricht University, The Netherlands.
Jeffrey Young is the Founder and Director of the Cognitive Therapy Centers of New York and Connecticut, and the Schema Therapy Institute in New York City.
"This book provides an excellent overview of schema therapy and covers all the key areas of new development in schema therapy with authority and brevity." - George Lockwood, Director, Schema Therapy Institute Midwest, USA
Our review proposes interpersonal perception as a mediator of the association between depression and interpersonal difficulties. Research suggests that such perception occurs on two levels. The first ...(Emotional Sharing System; ESS), basic and automatic, involves perceiving cues from others' nonverbal behavior. The second (Mental State Attribution System; MSAS), effortful and deliberate, involves inferring others' inner states using various sources of information. Evidence shows that depression is associated with lower accuracies at both levels of interpersonal perception, which in turn are associated with greater interpersonal difficulties. Gender differences found both in the depression–interpersonal difficulties link and in the depression–interpersonal perception link suggest it as a central moderator for consideration. We identified two main lacunae in the literature. First, ESS was not examined within close relationships whereas MSAS was not examined within clinical samples. Second, the role of interpersonal perception in the association between depression and interpersonal difficulties has rarely been tested.
•A mediation of the depression–interpersonal difficulties link by interpersonal perception is proposed.•Reviewed studies strongly support the three first steps of the mediation model.•Only one study examined interpersonal perception as a mediator of the depression–interpersonal difficulty link.•Gender differences found suggest that it as a central moderator to be considered.•No studies assess the effect of clinical depression on interpersonal perception within close relationships.
The recent growth in diary and experience sampling research has increased research attention on how people change over time in natural settings. Often however, the measures in these studies were ...originally developed for studying between-person differences, and their sensitivity to within-person changes is usually unknown. Using a Generalizability Theory framework, the authors illustrate a procedure for developing reliable measures of change using a version of the Profile of Mood States (POMS; McNair, Lorr, & Droppleman, 1992) shortened for diary studies. Analyzing two data sets, one composed of 35 daily reports from 68 persons experiencing a stressful examination and another composed of daily reports from 164 persons over a typical 28-day period, we demonstrate that three-item measures of anxious mood, depressed mood, anger, fatigue, and vigor have appropriate reliability to detect within-person change processes.
Objective: The effectiveness of Imagery Rescripting (IR) has been demonstrated in the treatment of various psychological disorders, but the mechanisms underlying it remain unclear. While current ...investigations predominantly refer to memory processes, physiological processes have received less attention. The main aim of this study is to test whether client physiological activation (i.e., arousal) and client-therapist physiological activation (i.e., synchrony) during IR segments predicted improvement on next-session outcomes and overall treatment response, and to compare these to the role of physiological (co)-activation during traditional cognitive-behavioral (CB) segments. Methods: The results are based on 177 therapy sessions from an imagery-based treatment for test anxiety with 60 clients. Client and therapist electrodermal activity was continuously monitored, next-session outcome was assessed with the Outcome Rating Scale and treatment outcome was assessed using the Test Anxiety Inventory. Results: Hierarchical linear models demonstrated that average physiological synchrony during IR segments (but not during CB ones) was significantly associated with higher well-being at both the session and the overall treatment levels. Clients' physiological arousal in either IR or CB segments was not predictive of either outcome. Conclusion: These results provide initial evidence for the idea that physiological synchrony might be an important underlying mechanism in IR.
Aim: Self Compassion (SC) has been consistently linked to decreased emotional distress and is offered as a mechanism of change in several therapeutic approaches. The current study aimed to identify ...therapists' interventions that enhance clients' SC within individual psychodynamic psychotherapy. We examined a diverse set of interventions as predictors of clients' SC, on treatment and session levels. We hypothesized that improvement in SC will be associated with greater use of directive or common factor interventions.
Method: Client/therapist (N = 89) dyads from a university-based community clinic participated in the study. Therapists' interventions and changes in clients' SC level were monitored at each psychotherapy session.
Results:
Clients' SC in a given session was not predicted by therapist use of interventions from any of the three clusters in the previous session. However, positive change in SC across treatment was predicted by greater use of directive interventions. Furthermore, among clients with low pretreatment SC, a positive change in SC across treatment was predicted by lesser use of common factor interventions.
Discussion:
The results highlight the importance of understanding clients' pretreatment characteristics when selecting therapeutic interventions and suggest that the integration of directive interventions into the psychodynamic therapeutic practice may be beneficial in enhancing clients' SC.
Imagery rescripting (IR), an effective intervention technique, may achieve its benefits through various change mechanisms. Previous work has indicated that client-therapist physiological synchrony ...during IR may serve as one such mechanism. The present work explores the possibility that therapist-led vs. client-led synchrony may be differentially tied to clients' emotional experiences in therapy. The analyses were conducted with data taken from an open trial of a brief protocol for treating test anxiety (86 IR sessions from 50 client-therapist dyads). Physiological synchrony in electrodermal activity was indexed using two cross-correlation functions per session: once for client leading and again for therapist leading (in both cases, with lags up to 10 s). The clients' and therapists' in-session emotions were assessed with the Profile of Mood States. Actor-partner interdependence models showed that certain client (but not therapist) in-session emotions, namely higher contentment and lower anxiety and depression, were tied to therapist-led (but not client-led) physiological synchrony. The results suggest that therapist-led synchrony (i.e., clients' arousal tracking therapists' earlier arousal) is tied to more positive and less negative emotional experiences for clients.
PDF
