ABSTRACT

The role of patients’ questions in psychoanalytic psychotherapy is a neglected topic in the clinical and research literature. This qualitative study aims to bridge this gap by exploring the role of patients’ questions in Short-Term Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy (STPP) with adolescents suffering from depression. This is a single case study, focusing on the interaction between the patient and his therapist when questions were asked by the patient, using conversation analysis methodology. Data was taken from the IMPACT study, a randomised controlled trial, investigating three types of therapy in the treatment of adolescent depression. The findings identify some typical ways in which the therapist responded to the patient’s questions, and show that ‘surprising behaviours’ that seem associated with heightened affect appeared when the patient asked a question, leading to an enlivening of the therapeutic interaction. The study examines the significance of these findings within the context of the therapeutic relationship and discusses the implication of these findings for technique.

摘要

患者的问题在精神分析心理治疗中的作用是临床和研究文献中被忽视的话题。这项定性研究旨在通过探索患者问题在患有抑郁症的青少年的短期精神分析心理治疗 (STPP) 中的作用来弥合这一差距。这是一个单一的案例研究，使用对话分析方法，重点关注患者提出问题时患者与其治疗师之间的互动。数据取自 IMPACT 研究，这是一项随机对照试验，调查了三种治疗青少年抑郁症的疗法。研究结果确定了治疗师回答患者问题的一些典型方式，并表明，当患者提出问题时，会出现似乎与增强情感相关的“令人惊讶的行为”，从而使治疗互动更加活跃。该研究在治疗关系的背景下检查了这些发现的重要性，并讨论了这些发现对技术的影响。