title: Focusing the therapist's attention on the patient's strengths: a preliminary study to foster a mechanism of change in outpatient psychotherapy.
abstract: Previous research has supported the immediate activation of patient's strengths (resource activation) as an important mechanism of change in psychotherapy. We designed a brief (10 min) priming procedure in which therapists' attention was focused on the patients' individual strengths before each therapy session (resource priming). In a preliminary study, the priming procedure was carried out before each of the first five sessions (N=20). Preliminary results indicated that this brief preparatory intervention boosted resource activation as perceived by independent observers, fostered attachment and mastery experiences by the patient, and improved therapy outcome at Session 20. Improvement was assessed in comparison to a pairwise matched, nonrandomized control group of patients treated previously with the same treatment protocol at the same clinic.
authors.affiliation: University of Berne, Department of Psychology, Berne, Switzerland. christoph.flueckiger@psy.unibe.ch
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Flückiger
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Grosse Holtforth
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000553:Ambulatory Care; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D001288:Attention; D035061:Control Groups; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009769:Object Attachment; D010555:Personality Inventory; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D013811:Psychotherapeutic Processes; D011613:Psychotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D016896:Treatment Outcome