A method of rating assimilation in psychotherapy based on markers of change.

Abstract

This article reports the development of a marker-based method for rating assimilation in psychotherapy with a case study of a woman Sarah, who was treated for depression with process-experiential psychotherapy. To increase the rigor of the qualitative case study methodology, independent judges rated passages-taken out of context and randomly ordered-from the qualitative analysis. The authors examined levels of training required to make quantitative judgments by comparing ratings from 4 graduate students and 4 undergraduate students. Pooled reliabilities of the 2 groups of raters were high (.90 and .84), and the estimated reliability of single graduate student raters was acceptable (.70). Consistent findings across a series of related case studies are reviewed to address the generalizability of the findings.

Therapeutic collaboration and the assimilation of problematic experiences in emotion-focused therapy for depression: Comparison of two cases

“…Following Honos-Webb, Stiles, and Greenberg (2003), an APES passage was defined as a segment of text in which a topic is introduced/elaborated and specific assimilation markers appear (allowing judges to assign an APES level; see Honos-Webb et al, 2003). Disagreements were resolved through consensual discussion (Hill et al, 2005).…”

La asimilación de experiencias problemáticas a través de narraciones: un estudio de caso.

“…Tradicionalmente, los marcadores nos sirven como guía y criterio (serían "pistas" sobre cada nivel APES) anales de psicología, 2014, vol. 30, nº 1 (enero) para ofrecer los códigos APES, aunque hasta ahora sólo se disponía de ellos en un contexto terapéutico (Honos-Webb, Stiles & Greenberg, 2003;Honos-Webb, Stiles, Greenberg & Goldman, 1998).…”

Making sense of dementia: Exploring the use of the Markers of Assimilation of Problematic Experiences in Dementia scale to understand how couples process a diagnosis of dementia

“…Thus research indicates that people often display a wide range of reactions to their diagnosis, from denying any difficulties, to grief, catastrophising and trying to find ways to cope positively (Aminzadeh, Byszewski, Molnar, & Eisner, 2007;Derksen, Vernooid-Dassen., Gillissen, Olde-Rikkert, & Scheltens, 2006). Lishman et al (2014) adapted the Honos-Webb et al (2003) marker based method specifically to people with dementia. This adaptation was referred to as the Markers of Assimilation of Problematic Experiences in Dementia Scale (MAPED) (see Lishman et al (2014) for a detailed explanation of the development of MAPED).…”

“…It proposes that in successful psychotherapy, the resolution of difficult, problematic or threatening experiences occurs through a dialogue between these voices, which results in the problematic experience or voice being integrated into the community of voices (Honos-Webb, Stiles, & Greenberg, 2003).…”

“…A marker-based method has been developed to try and measure a client's level of assimilation (Honos-Webb et al, 2003). This process of therapeutic change is operationalised in eight levels, which can be conceptualised in terms of three overlapping stages (Cheston, 2013).…”