Sequential analysis of topics in psychotherapy discourse: A single case study

Author(s): Bauknight, R., Horowitz, M. J., Amaro, R., Sugahara, C.

Journal/Book: Psychother Res. 1995; 5: 72 Spring Street, New York, NY 10012. Guilford Press. 199-217.

Abstract: While content analysis of discourse has a rich history, relatively little research has been aimed at identifying topics by their content. In this paper we test the assumption that identifying the content and sequences of topics reveals clinically useful information about a person's mental structure, by studying change in the discourse structure over the course of a single therapy and by demonstrating the relevance the discourse structure and content have for the ease. A new method is presented for idiographically identifying topics of discourse by content and applied to the entire therapy of a single case of prolonged and severe bereavement. Through sequential analysis of the structure of patient discourse, sequential patterns of associated topics were revealed that converged with clinical case formulations and with clinicians' and patient's ratings of the importance of the identified topics to the case. Patterns of changing associations among topics from the first to the second half of therapy are interpreted as indicating an increased flexibility in the accessibility of clinically relevant topics.

Note: Article C Milbrath, Univ Calif San Francisco, Dept Psychiat, 401 Parnassus Ave, San Francisco, CA 94143 USA

Keyword(s): SELF; DEPRESSION; LANGUAGE; SCHEMAS; SCALE

Zurück | Weiter