A Qualitative Single Case Study aboutTesting in the Therapeutic Relat...

Background

The Control-Mastery-Theory by the Mount Zion / San Francisco Research Group states, that testing the therapist, consciously or unconsciously, is a substantial part in the psychotherapy process (Weiss, 1986). Testing behavior is necessary for the patient in order to disprove pathogenic believes that have been acquired at young age, hindering the patient to reach their goals.

Method

The single case was retrieved from the Munich Psychotherapy Study (Huber et al., 2012). A single case about a women, suffering from depression and receiving cognitive behavioral psychotherapy, was chosen for rating: Transcripts were qualitatively analyzed by creating an individual plan formulation for the patient and identifying the tests she advanced toward her therapist during the initial, middle and ending phase of therapy.

Results

Several tests could be found in every phase of the therapy, showing no distinct pattern in terms of frequency. With one exception the patient made use of transference-tests only, during which the patient projected her pleas onto the therapist as if he were one of her parental figures. It became clear that the patient repeatedly targeted specific themes within her central conflict of self-worth, suggesting that she unconsciously may have followed a designated plan to make the most of the therapy experience.

Conclusion

The study shows that testing behavior in the therapeutic relationship can not only be identified individually but can also be clustered into different types of appeals, giving information about the progress of the therapy. The therapist’s interventions following their patient’s testing behavior may be crucial for the sequence of events during the psychotherapy sessions.