The study performed by Jamie Bedics, David Atkins and Marsha Linehan, main goal was to explore the therapist/patient relationship in dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) in the treatment of borderline personality disorder (BPD) in answer to critics who say that DBT treats the symptoms of patients with BPD and does not focus on the patient’s internal or intrapsychic change. The researchers sought to examine and test these internal changes in regards to the therapeutic relationship in DBT as compared to community treatment by experts (CTBE) . This study had 4 hypotheses. The first hypothesis stated that DBT participants would show more internal self-care and positivity during the length of the study than those participants who were selected to
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The researchers recruited a total of 16 DBT therapists and 25 CTBE therapists. The DBT therapists used behavioral problem-solving and acceptance strategies to promote intrapsychic change. CTBE therapists’ treatments were uncontrolled. They were allowed to use whatever treatments they would normally use, and had to agree to at least one individual therapy session per week for each patient. The independent variable is the randomized placement of participants in either DBT or CTBE intervention. The researchers used Benjamin’s Structural Analysis of Social Behavior (SASB) Intrex short form (Benjamin, 1983) to measure the therapeutic relationship and intrpsychic change. Participants, in both groups, were asked to rate their therapists behavior towards them during therapy in 8 areas – Blame, Attack, Ignore, Emancipate, Affirm, Active Love, Protect, and Control – by assigning a numeric value to each area on a scale of 0 to 100, where 0 is never/not at all and 100 is always/perfect. These assessments were completed at 4 months, 8 months and 12 months. These time intervals corresponded to the active phase of both treatments. The assessments for the introject were completed during the active phase of treatment at 2 weeks, 4 months, 8 months and 12 months. They were also assessed after their therapy was completed at 16 moths, 20 months and 24 months. The introject was also rated on 8 areas – Self-Blame, Self-Attack, Self-Neglect, Self-Emancipation, Self-Affirm, Active Self-Love, Self-Protect and Self-Control - by assigning a numeric value to each area on a scale of 0 to 100, where 0 is never/not at all and 100 is always/perfect. Using The Suicide Attempt Self-Injury Interview (Linehan, Comtois, Brown, Heard, & Wagner, 2006), researchers measured self-harm by evaluating the number of incidents of
The researchers recruited a total of 16 DBT therapists and 25 CTBE therapists. The DBT therapists used behavioral problem-solving and acceptance strategies to promote intrapsychic change. CTBE therapists’ treatments were uncontrolled. They were allowed to use whatever treatments they would normally use, and had to agree to at least one individual therapy session per week for each patient. The independent variable is the randomized placement of participants in either DBT or CTBE intervention. The researchers used Benjamin’s Structural Analysis of Social Behavior (SASB) Intrex short form (Benjamin, 1983) to measure the therapeutic relationship and intrpsychic change. Participants, in both groups, were asked to rate their therapists behavior towards them during therapy in 8 areas – Blame, Attack, Ignore, Emancipate, Affirm, Active Love, Protect, and Control – by assigning a numeric value to each area on a scale of 0 to 100, where 0 is never/not at all and 100 is always/perfect. These assessments were completed at 4 months, 8 months and 12 months. These time intervals corresponded to the active phase of both treatments. The assessments for the introject were completed during the active phase of treatment at 2 weeks, 4 months, 8 months and 12 months. They were also assessed after their therapy was completed at 16 moths, 20 months and 24 months. The introject was also rated on 8 areas – Self-Blame, Self-Attack, Self-Neglect, Self-Emancipation, Self-Affirm, Active Self-Love, Self-Protect and Self-Control - by assigning a numeric value to each area on a scale of 0 to 100, where 0 is never/not at all and 100 is always/perfect. Using The Suicide Attempt Self-Injury Interview (Linehan, Comtois, Brown, Heard, & Wagner, 2006), researchers measured self-harm by evaluating the number of incidents of