PSYCHOANALYSIS AND PSYCHOANALYTIC PSYCHOTHERAPY AS AN EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICE: A REVIEW OF EMPIRICAL DATA ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF WORKING WITH ADULTS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32782/upj/2023-2-5Keywords:
efficacy, effectiveness, effect size, psychoanalysis, psychoanalytic psychotherapy, psychodynamic psychotherapyAbstract
Consideration of available empirical research, own practical experience, and attention to the cultural and personal characteristics of a unique patient or client are parts of the recognized triad of evidence-based practice. The evidence-based approach to the question of the effectiveness of psychoanalysis and different psychoanalytic psychotherapies covers a wide range of issues: from the assessment of the efficacy of interventions in the case of specific symptoms, issues, and disorders within age and social groups – to the empirical assessment of individual factors, mechanisms and phenomena that accompany, enhance or complicate successful psychoanalytic work. This paper is a narrative review of data from 50 empirical studies on the efficacy and effectiveness of psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic psychotherapies. According to the results of the analysis, the central part of the work was divided into thematic subsections: 1) Proven efficacy of psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic psychotherapy; 2) Proven effectiveness of psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic psychotherapy; 3) Preliminary data on the effectiveness of psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic psychotherapy, which require additional evidence; 4) Proven ineffectiveness or low effectiveness and 5) What works better: psychoanalysis or psychoanalytic psychotherapy. Each chapter describes the research designs and the results obtained from the available empirical studies. Special attention is paid to randomized controlled trials, the "gold standard" in evaluating the efficacy of psychological and psychotherapeutic interventions. In general, psychoanalytic interventions, with their detailed clinical experience, traditional attention to the uniqueness of each case, and significant research support, which illuminated their effectiveness, have a worthy place in the list of evidence-based methods. Further studies to determine the effectiveness of psychoanalysis and psychotherapeutic psychotherapies with separate groups of patients remain relevant.
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