Intensive short-term dynamic psychotherapy

Studies have provided evidence for the effectiveness of intensive short-term dynamic psychotherapy (ISTDP) in treating medically unexplained symptoms (MUS). This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of ISTDP on individuals living with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) in terms of, emotion regulation (ER) abilities, defense mechanisms, quality of life (QOL), and IBS symptoms. A total of 30 patients diagnosed with IBS were recruited and randomly assigned to either the intervention ( n  = 15) or control ( n  = 15) group...

Research has demonstrated the potential efficacy of intensive short-term dynamic psychotherapy (ISTDP) in addressing medically unexplained symptoms (MUS). However, the specific application of ISTDP for tension-type headache (TTH), a prevalent and common MUS, has not been extensively studied. In light of this gap in the literature, the current study investigated the effectiveness of intensive short-term dynamic psychotherapy (ISTDP) in treating TTH. The study assessed ISTDP's impact on emotion regulation (ER) capacities, levels of anxiety and anger, and TTH symptoms...

Intensive short-term dynamic psychotherapy (ISTDP) is theorized to reduce negative affect by challenging patients' defense mechanisms so that they can experience and work through attachment-trauma-related emotions. While ISTDP has been shown to decrease depressive symptoms in single treatment-resistant depression (TRD), it has not been established whether negative affect and emotional repression are reduced, as theorized. Next to depressive symptoms, this retrospectively registered (https://osf.io/v46gy) randomized controlled trial, therefore, examined the effects of ISTDP on emotional repression and negative affect in adults with TRD...

This perspective paper explores the choice of psychotherapy for psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy for treatment-resistant depression. There is evidence to support the use of some psychotherapies in treating 'treatment-resistant' depression, and emerging evidence for the efficacy of psilocybin. The next step which is the focus of this paper is to identify psychotherapies that are both effective and congruent with the psilocybin experience. The evidence for the efficacy of the psychotherapies is drawn from a Cochrane review and the analysis of their congruence with the psilocybin experience is drawn from a qualitative meta-synthesis of the experience of psilocybin...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: This study aimed to look at the influence of short-term dynamic psychotherapy on sexual function and marital satisfaction in women with depression. METHODS: Through a clinical trial study using a pretest-posttest design and a control group, this study enlisted the participation of 60 women diagnosed with depression. The patients were interviewed before being randomly assigned to experimental or control groups. Data were obtained through the Beck Depression Inventory, the Enrique Marital Satisfaction Questionnaire, and the Female Sexual Function Questionnaire...

Intensive Short-Term Psychodynamic Therapy (ISTDP) has demonstrated promising evidence for the treatment of Functional Neurological Disorders (FND) including functional seizures. This paper aimed to further examine the therapeutic effects of a 3-session course of this treatment focusing on its potential to maintain reduced healthcare utility within a group of patients with complex difficulties, across an extended time period, post-therapy. The original study followed a mixed methods case series design and recruited 18 patients from secondary adult mental health care and specialist neurology services...

OBJECTIVE: Intensive short-term dynamic therapy (ISTDP) is an evidence-based psychotherapy supported by a growing literature base. "Unlocking" of the unconscious is a central process in ISTDP. This study sought to operationalize the concept of unlocking by adopting a detailed process analysis of the early phase of therapy for four patients by using a structured measure, the Achievement of Therapeutic Objectives Scale (ATOS). METHODS: The ATOS is a measure of psychotherapy processes...

The purpose of this article was to raise awareness of an under-recognized but well-supported treatment for Functional Neurological Disorders (FND) termed Intensive Short-term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP). There has been significant interest in the role of psychological mechanisms in FND onset and maintenance with specific evidence for maladaptive emotional processing. We outline how this supports the theoretical basis for ISTDP as an option in FND treatment and undertake a literature review of the current evidence base...

A central tenet of psychodynamic theory of depression is the role of avoided anger. However empirical research has not yet addressed the question of for which patients and via what pathways experiencing anger in sessions can help. The therapeutic alliance and acquisition of patient insight are important change processes in dynamic therapy and may mediate the anger-depression association. This study was embedded into a randomized trial testing the efficacy of Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP) for treatment resistant depression...

Psychoanalysis, in its purist mainstream sense, tends to be considered as an isolationist discipline that steers clear of interdisciplinary connections with other psychotherapies. Its drive for purity does not open up to influences that cast as alien and a threat to its core principles. We refer to Hegelian dialectics in an attempt to offer an alternative approach to interdisciplinarity in clinical psychoanalysis. Psychoanalysis entertains a complex dialectical relationship with the major theories it opposes...

OBJECTIVES: The effect of short-term psychodynamic psychotherapy in patients with neurotic spectrum disorders may be related with predictive factors such as the severity of the disorder, diagnosis, self-stigma level, personality characteristics, comorbidity with depression and personality disorder, dissociation, and traumatic childhood experience. This study focuses on finding factors related to the effect of short-term psychodynamic psychotherapy in patients with neurotic spectrum disorders...

This study examines the effectiveness of psychotherapy provided by novice therapists, in an attempt to clarify the controversial relationship between treatment effectiveness and therapist experience. To achieve this, we examined the short- and long-term effectiveness of intensive short-term dynamic psychotherapy (ISTDP) in the treatment of patients with the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder, IV edition - Text Revision anxiety disorders, as provided by novice psychology trainees. Twenty-two patients with anxiety disorders were provided ISTDP...

Intensive short-term dynamic psychotherapy (ISTDP) was developed to manage treatment impasses preventing the experiencing of feelings related to childhood attachment interruptions, such as parental loss. According to ISTDP theory, certain categories of patients will exhibit habitual patterns of responding within the treatment relationship (called defenses) to certain anxiety-provoking thoughts and feelings. Such defensive behaviors interrupt awareness of one's own feelings, self-directed compassion and engagement in close human attachments, including the bond with the therapist...

OBJECTIVES: Intensive short-term dynamic psychotherapy (ISTDP) requires the technique of challenge to defenses when treating resistant patients. As the technique of challenge is difficult for some therapists to practice, it leads us to question whether challenge can be replaced by clarification of defenses without losing treatment effectiveness. This study compared ISTDP with two different technical emphases while treating social anxiety disorder (SAD). METHOD: Forty-two subjects with DSM-5 SAD were randomly assigned to either a waitlist control, 10 sessions of ISTDP with the use of challenge or 10 sessions of ISTDP without the use of challenge...

BACKGROUND: Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP) is an intervention introduced by Davanloo in order to treat anxiety, mood and somatic symptom, and personality disorders. It is a brief intervention aiming to identify and process painful or forbidden emotions and consequently to override symptoms and self-destructive tendencies. In this review we examine the efficacy of ISTDP on symptoms in patients with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and Bipolar Disorder (BD). METHODS: A thorough search of articles in Pubmed, PsycINFO, Isi Web of Knowledge was carried out in order to obtain available studies of ISTDP for BD and MDD...

BACKGROUND: Depressed patients with chronic and complex health issues commonly relapse; therefore, examining longer-term outcomes is an important consideration. For treatment resistant depression (TRD), the post-treatment efficacy of time-limited Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP) has been demonstrated but longer-term outcomes and cost-effectiveness are unclear. METHOD: In this superiority trial, 60 patients referred to Community Mental Health Teams (CMHT) were randomised to 2 groups (ISTDP=30 and CMHT=30)...

OBJECTIVE: Despite increasing evidence for the effectiveness of intensive short-term dynamic psychotherapy (ISTDP), evidence supporting the purported mechanisms of change in ISTDP is lacking. This systematized review aimed to describe the major theorized mechanisms of change in ISTDP, critically evaluate the emerging literature pertaining to its purported mechanisms, and explore directions for future research. METHODS: A systematized search of the literature was conducted by using online databases (PsychInfo, PubMed, EMBASE, and CINAHL)...

No previous research has investigated the emergence of stereotypic movements in patients during psychotherapeutic sessions, nor have such movements been mentioned in the numerous articles on Habib Davanloo's technique of intensive short-term dynamic psychotherapy. In this article, we present two clinical vignettes from early intensive short-term dynamic psychotherapy sessions, using Davanloo's technique, with a patient who was observed to have an emerging stereotypic movement. These vignettes, extracted from the videotaped sessions using audiovisual technology, concern a young woman who is known to have treatment-resistant obsessive-compulsive disorder...

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to assess the clinical- and cost-effectiveness of intensive short-term dynamic psychotherapy (ISTDP) for patients with chronic pain. METHOD: A sample of 228 pain patients was drawn from a larger naturalistic study of ISTDP. They received an average of 6.1 sessions delivered by 31 therapists. Psychiatric symptoms and interpersonal problems were assessed at three time points. Healthcare data from baseline year and three years following treatment came from independent governmental databases...

This research examined the efficacy of intensive short-term dynamic psychotherapy (ISTDP) in the treatment of social anxiety disorder (SAD) and compared the therapeutic outcomes of ISTDP when feeling focus or defense work is emphasized. A three-group randomized design with 6-month follow-up was used. Forty-one subjects were selected among volunteer college students diagnosed with SAD. They were assigned randomly into three groups; 14 cases to feeling-focused ISTDP (FF-ISTDP) group, 14 cases to defense-focused ISTDP (DF-ISTDP) group, and 13 cases to a control group...