Changes in training-clinic patients: evaluation of the results and processes

Abstract

This study investigated changes in patients cared for in a Training-Clinic and sought to understand the factors influencing the results of psychotherapeutic practices. The sample was composed of nine participants (eight women and one man) aged 33 years old or older, after they had completed psychotherapy treatment. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to evaluate adaptive efficacy, stage of change, and psychopathological symptoms. The Scale for Efficacy of Adaptation (EDAO-R), the Stage of Change Scales (EEM), and the Symptom Assessment Scale 40 (EAS-40) were used. Data suggest that easing symptoms is possible, as is progressing in stage changes; adaptive efficacy, however, is more resistant to change. Positive therapeutic bonds and the willingness of patients to act as agents of their own change may have been relevant in the psychotherapies outcomes, even though these were not directly evaluated. Longitudinal studies are needed to monitor processes from their beginnings.