affectphobia.org--research program

www.affectphobia.org

affectphobia.org, the web site for
Affect Phobia Therapy

Psychotherapy Research Program at Harvard Medical School's Beth Israel-Deaconess Medical Center

Leigh McCullough, PhD, Director
Nat Kuhn MD, PhD, Assistant Director
Stuart Andrews, PhD, Assistant Director
Kristin Osborn, MA, LMHC

This research program focuses on analyzing and improving the effectiveness of psychotherapy through intensive analysis of videotaped psychotherapy sessions. The work builds on 18 years of programmatic study of Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy. Two clinical trials have demonstrated the efficacy of the Affect Phobia model at termination of treatment and two-year followup (Winston et al, 1998, below) and the Norwegian Technical University in Trondheim (Svartberg et al, Am J Psychiatry 2004; 161:180).

The current research focus is the microanalysis of the single case. Research patients receive 20 sessions of short-term therapy with testing given before, during and after therapy. An in-depth analysis of the mechanisms of change is conducted from the videotaped sessions.

The newest arm of this program is the collaboration with the Department of Neurology at the Beth Israel-Deaconess Medical Center to develop brain-imaging methods for psychotherapy. Two studies are evaluating EEG recordings and functional MRI brain imaging of normal and epileptic subjects while they are experiencing different affects (e.g., sadness, anger, fear, excitement, joy, shame). The long-term goal is to develop methods to be able to use in psychotherapy research: i.e., to identify changes in neurological activity that correspond with changes in emotions and behavior following short-term psychotherapy. Collaborators include Donald Schomer, Dept. of Neurology; BIDMC; Dorothy Holinger Ph.D., Dept. of Psychiatry and Neurology, BIDMC, and Richard Davidson, Ph. D., University of Wisconsin, Madison.

The long-range goal of this research program is to specify the change mechanisms that substantially reduce the suffering and improve the functioning of patients with personality disorders.

Representative Publications:

McCullough L, Kuhn N, Andrews S, Kaplan A, Wolf J, Hurley C. Treating Affect Phobia: a Manual for Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy, Guilford Press, 2003.
McCullough-Vaillant L, Changing Character: Short-Term Psychotherapy for Restructuring Defenses, Affects and Attachments. Basic Books, 1997.
McCullough L, Kuhn N, Andrews S, Valen J, Hatch D, Osimo F. The Reliability of the Achievement of Therapeutic Objectives Scale: A Research and Teaching Tool for Brief Psychotherapy. J Brief Therapy 2003; 2: 75-90.
Winston, A, Laikin M, Pollack J, Samstag L, McCullough L, Muran C. Short-Term Psychotherapy of Personality Disorders: 2 year follow-up. American Journal of Psychiatry, 1994, 151(2):190-194.
Svartberg M, Stiles T, and Seltzer M. Randomized, Controlled Trial of the Effectiveness of Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy and Cognitive Therapy for Cluster C Personality Disorders. American Journal of Psychiatry, 2004, 161(5):810-817.
Soldz S, and McCullough L. The Relationship between Research and Practice: Psychotherapy Researcher's Personal Reflections. Washington DC: American Psychological Association Press, 1998