Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35988120›Full record

Trial reportJournal of clinical psychology2023

The impact of integrating emotion focused components into psychological therapy: A randomized controlled trial.

Franz Caspar, Thomas Berger, Martin Grosse Holtforth, Anna Babl, Sara Heer, Mu Lin, Annabarbara Stähli, Juan Martin Gomez Penedo, Dominique Holstein, Yvonne Egenolf and 14 more

Open access · hybridAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Journal of clinical psychology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
1.5field-weighted citation impact, top 18% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed, 8 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Trial
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

24 authors at 6 institutions in 5 countries.

Franz CasparDepartment of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.ORCID 0000-0003-2595-2975
Thomas BergerDepartment of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
Martin Grosse HoltforthDepartment of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
Anna BablDepartment of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
Sara HeerDepartment of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
Mu LinDepartment of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
Annabarbara StähliDepartment of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
Juan Martin Gomez PenedoDepartment of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.ORCID 0000-0001-7304-407X
Dominique HolsteinDepartment of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
Yvonne EgenolfDepartment of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
Eveline FrischknechtDepartment of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
Tobias KriegerDepartment of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
Fabian RamseyerDepartment of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
Daniel RegliDepartment of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
Emma SchmiedDepartment of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
Christoph FlückigerDepartment of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
Jeannette BrodbeckDepartment of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
Les GreenbergYork University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Charles S CarverUniversity of Miami, Coral Gables, USA.
Louis CastonguayPenn State University, Pennsylvania, USA.
Ueli KramerUniversité de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.ORCID 0000-0002-5603-0394
Lars AuszraInstitut für Emotionsfokussierte Therapie (München).
Imke HerrmannInstitut für Emotionsfokussierte Therapie (München).
Martina BelzDepartment of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
University of Bern · CHIFT Institut für Therapieforschung · DEPennsylvania State University · USUniversity of Lausanne · CHUniversity of Miami · USYork University · CA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesThis paper presents a randomized controlled trial on assimilative integration, which is aimed at integrating elements from other orientations within one approach to enrich its conceptual and practical repertoire. Elements from Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT) were integrated into a form of cognitive behavior therapy: Psychological Therapy (PT). In one treatment condition, EFT was added to PT (+EFT) with the intent to enhance therapists' working with emotions. In the other condition, concepts and interventions based on the socialpsychological self-regulation approach were added to PT (+SR). Our assumption was that the +EFT would lead to greater and deeper change, particularly in the follow-up assessments.

methodPatients (n = 104) with anxiety, depression, or adjustment disorders were randomized to the two conditions and treated by 38 therapists who self-selected between the conditions. Primary outcome was symptom severity at 12-month follow-up; secondary outcomes included several measures such as interpersonal problems and quality of life. Variables were assessed at baseline, after 8 and 16 sessions, at posttreatment, and at 6- and 12-month follow-up.

resultsContrary to our hypothesis, no significant between-group effects were found.

conclusionThe findings first suggest the difficulty of topping an already very effective approach to psychotherapy. Alternative interpretations were that the EFT training, while corresponding to regular practice in AI, was not sufficient to make a difference in outcome, or that while profiting from the enhancement of abilities for working with emotions, this was outbalanced by negative effects of difficulties related to the implementation of the new elements.

Indexed as

EmotionsQuality of LifeAnxietyAnxiety DisordersHumansPsychotherapyTreatment Outcomeassimilative integrationcommon factorsEmotion-Focused TherapyPlan Analysisself-regulation

Identifiers

PMID35988120
PMCPMC10087375
OpenAlexW4292512865

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.