A review of supportive psychotherapy

Although supportive psychotherapy techniques are more widely used than expressive or insight-oriented techniques, particularly with hospitalized or chronically ill patients, supportive treatment strategies have been underrepresented in the literature and not adequately taught to therapists in training. The authors review the diverse definitions and goals of supportive therapy as related to two major types of objectives. They stress the distinction between the supportive relationship, which is present to some extent in all psychotherapy, and supportive treatment, and they examine the inverse relationship between expressive and supportive therapy. Finally, selected elements and techniques of the conduct of supportive therapy, such as style of communication, respect, praise, advice, self-disclosure, and interpretation, are discussed.     

Therapists' responses to training in brief supportive psychotherapy

There is little research addressing supportive psychotherapy training. This article describes training clinicians in a form of brief supportive psychotherapy (BSP) for a multisite depression study, and reports on a survey of therapist attitudes toward BSP. We hypothesized that while most therapists would report acclimating to BSP, cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT)-trained therapists would report greater frustration with BSP. Sixteen (89%) of 18 therapists completed a brief questionnaire. Therapists reported gaining comfort with supportive concepts and interventions. Therapists with cognitive behavior therapy orientations did not report significantly greater frustration with intervention restrictions. All practitioners indicated they were already using or were planning to use BSP outside the study, and that BSP training had altered their appreciation of psychotherapy. Most study therapists lacked prior supportive therapy training but reported adapting to BSP and appreciating its strengths and limitations.     

支持性心理治疗在新冠肺炎患者中的应用

目的 探讨支持性心理治疗对改善新冠肺炎患者精神心理问题的作用,为新冠肺炎此类突发疫情的早期心理干预提供参考.方法 选取2020年2月1日-3月1日在武汉大学人民医院重症监护病房住院治疗的35例新冠肺炎重症患者为研究对象,进行为期2周的支持性心理干预.于干预前和干预2周后,采用匹兹堡睡眠质量指数量表(PSQI)、患者健康...     

Short-term dynamic psychotherapy.

Short-term dynamic psychotherapy is rooted in psychoanalytic theory. The author traces the historical background of brief psychotherapy, focusing on the contributions of Freud, Ferenczi, Rank, and Alexander and French, and then presents a synthesis of contemporary views. Selection criteria for patients who can benefit from short-term therapy, and the techniques used, are discussed. Similarities to and differences from crisis intervention techniques are pointed out. The trend of the future can be expected to be toward shorter-term therapies, but given the present state of psychiatric knowledge, long-term therapy will still be necessary for many patients.     

Pilot study of interpersonal psychotherapy versus supportive psychotherapy for dysthymic patients with secondary alcohol abuse or dependence

Interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) has demonstrated efficacy for depression but yielded negative results for substance disorders. Alcohol abuse frequently complicates mood disorders. This pilot study compared IPT with brief supportive psychotherapy (BSP) for dysthymic disorder and alcohol abuse. We hypothesized that effect sizes would suggest greater IPT efficacy for both diagnoses, despite limited statistical power. Subjects with primary DSM-IV dysthymic disorder and secondary alcohol abuse/dependence were randomly assigned 16 weeks of IPT (N = 14) or BSP (N = 12). Patients in both treatments reported improved depressive symptoms and alcohol abstinence. IPT had a large and BSP a moderate effect size in depression, whereas BSP had a moderate and IPT a small effect size in percentage of days abstinent. This pilot study offers initial data on IPT and BSP for comorbid chronic depression and alcohol abuse/dependence. Results suggest IPT may have specific antidepressant benefits for dysthymic alcoholic patients but not in treating alcoholism.     

Behavior therapy, supportive psychotherapy, imipramine, and phobias.

In a controlled outcome study of phobias, 111 adult patients (69% women, 31% men) received a course of 26 weekly treatment sessions consisting of (1) behavior therapy and imipramine hydrochloride (2) behavior therapy and placebo, or (3) supportive psychotherapy and imipramine. Patients were classified as agoraphobic, mixed phobic, or simple phobic. The great majority of patients in all groups showed moderate to marked global improvement (70% to 86%, depending on rater). In agoraphobics and mixed phobics (both groups experiencing spontaneous panic attacks), imipramine was significantly superior to placebo. There was no difference between behavior therapy and supportive therapy, both resulting in high improvement rates (76% to 100%, depending on rater). In simple phobic patients, there was a high rate of improvement with all treatment regimens (72% to 93%, depending on rater), with no significant difference between imipramine and placebo or between behavior therapy and supportive therapy. Of 88 moderately to markedly improved patients followed up for one year after completing treatment, 83% maintained their gains and 17% relapsed. No patients showed symptom substitution. Eighteen percent of the patients receiving imipramine hydrochloride showed marked stimulant side effects on from 5 to 75 mg/day.     

支持性心理治疗对心脏神经症疗效的对照研究

目的：比较支持性心理治疗结合对症治疗与单纯对症治疗对心脏神经症的疗效。方法：采用支持性心理治疗结合对症治疗（治疗组）与单纯对症治疗（对照组）两种方法，对65例心脏神经症患者进行对照治疗（治疗组32例，对照组33例）。治疗前后患者自评症状自评量表（SCL－90），治疗后自评临床疗效。结果治疗结束时治疗组的总分及躯体化、抑郁、焦虑、恐怖、其他因子分显著低于治疗前，对照组中只有抑郁、焦虑和其它因子分的减低有显著性意义。患者自我报告的有效率治疗组为84．38％，对照组为41．94％，二者间有显著性差异。结论支持性心理治疗对心脏神经症患者有确定疗效。     

An integration of brief dynamic psychotherapy

The author suggests a minimum set of principles of technique and selection for brief dynamic psychotherapy which are derived from the many partial theories that are now available. He illustrates this integration with a series of cases drawn from the teaching practice of a brief psychotherapy clinic.