Ambivalence in the process of psychotherapeutic change should be addressed and resolved if we are to avoid psychotherapeutic failure and promote sustained change. In this context, ambivalence can be defined as the cyclical conflictual relation between two opposed positions of the self: one expressed as an innovation, and a subsequent one expressed in a trivialization or rejection of the innovation (problematic position). This conflict may be resolved in two different ways: (a) the dominance of the innovative position and the consequent inhibition of the problematic one and (b) the negotiation between the innovative and the problematic positions. In this study, we sought to study the evolution of the dominance and the negotiation processes in recovered and unchanged cases; to analyse if different therapeutic models produce different results on the evolution of the dominance and negotiation processes, and finally, to study if these processes are predictive of ambivalence resolution. The complete sessions of 22 clinical cases of depression (6 cognitive-behavioural therapy, 10 narrative therapy, and 6 emotion-focused therapy cases) were independently coded for innovative moments, ambivalence, and ambivalence resolution. Results revealed that recovered cases had a progressively higher proportion of negotiation along treatment, whereas in unchanged cases, negotiation was virtually absent throughout treatment. Both dominance and negotiation were significant predictors of ambivalence reduction, however, negotiation had a higher impact than dominance. Overall, these results did not significantly differ for the 3 therapeutic models. The theoretical implications of these findings are discussed, and theoretical derived suggestions for clinicians are presented.

This paper aims to describe the Innovative Moments (IM) Coding System (IMCS), an idiographic and transtheoretical methodology that allows the identification of IMs—markers of changes in the client's initial maladaptive framework of meaning—throughout psychotherapy. The present study introduces the theoretical background underlying this methodology, along with the main empirical findings resulting from former studies that have applied this tool to clinical data. The IMCS application is also detailed: the coding phases, the training steps and inter‐rater agreement measures. In order to illustrate the application of IM coding, a case study is presented. Although a partial coding was used, the results are in line with previous research. Discussion is centred on the usefulness of the IMCS for the advance of process research in psychotherapy, and the potential use of this methodology in group format.

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In psychotherapy, ambivalence may be conceptualized as a conflict between two distinct motivations: one that is favorable to change (pro-change) and another that favors the maintenance of a problematic pattern (pro status quo). Previous studies identified two processes by which clients resolve this conflict: imposing the innovative part and silencing the problematic one (dominance), and establishing negotiations between the innovative and the pro status quo parts (negotiation). The present exploratory study examined ambivalence resolution in a sample of clients diagnosed with complicated grief. Results revealed that, in recovered cases, negotiation increases and dominance decreases from the beginning until the middle sessions of therapy and the opposite tendency is observed from the middle to the final sessions. Unchanged cases reveal an overall high proportion of dominance and an overall low proportion of negotiation. These results are partially divergent from those reported in previous studies with samples of clients diagnosed with major depression.

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