On the problem of psychodiagnosis in psychiatry and psychotherapy]

Owing to the changed concept of psychiatry and psychotherapy, greater demands are also being made on psychodiagnostics. The article deals with the prerequisites, possible significance and application of the clinical methods and psychological tests, describes the problems of standardization and quality testing and discusses indications and problems of the different groups of methods. The demands of the clinician addressed to test designers are dealt with, as well as the question of which group of methods should be used and by whom.     

Theory‐building case studies of counselling and psychotherapy

In addition to their potential for healing, psychotherapy and counselling offer extraordinary opportunities to observe human experience and behaviour. I suggest practitioners have expertise in and daily access to the phenomena that theories of counselling and psychotherapy seek to explain. Practitioners’ clinical experience can be accumulated and shared through theory-building case study research. This article summarizes the logic of theory‐building case studies and offers practical suggestions for conducting case study research.     

Changes in meaning in life across the course of psychodynamic psychotherapy

Using the Meaning in Life Questionnaire (MLQ), we studied Presence and Search for meaning for 34 adult clients in psychodynamic psychotherapy. Clients completed the MLQ and Outcome Questionnaire (OQ) before intake and after every eight sessions. Variance in Presence scores was mostly attributable to clients; variance in Search scores was mostly attributable to clients and therapists. Clients initially high in Presence decreased and then increased back to initial levels; clients initially low in Presence increased and then decreased back to initial levels. Clients initially low in Search increased and then leveled off; clients initially high in Search decreased and then leveled off. In lagged cross panel analyses, when clients decreased in psychological distress during one eight-week time period, they increased in Presence during the next eight-week time period; when they increased in psychological distress during one eight-week time period, they increased in search in the next time period. Excerpts from post-therapy interviews illustrate the process of working with meaning in life in psychotherapy. Implications for practice and training are discussed.