Patients' experiences of change in cognitive-behavioral therapy and psychodynamic therapy: a qualitative comparative study

Research suggests that different therapeutic approaches produce roughly equivalent outcomes despite their theoretical and technical differences. This study explores whether the quantitative equivalence may conceal differences in patients' experiences of the quality of change. Thirty- two patients who had terminated cognitive - behavioral therapy or psychodynamic therapy were interviewed about their experiences in psychotherapy. The cases were clustered in four groups depending on type of therapy and whether outcome was judged as satisfactory or not. An outcome narrative was reconstructed for each type. Even though the ratio of satisfactory to unsatisfactory cases was roughly equal in the two types of treatments, there were obvious differences in the kinds or quality of outcome that were reported as well as some experiences common to the two groups of patients. The narratives of the dissatisfied patients underscored the importance of matching the approach to the patient.