ClinicalTrials.Veeva

Menu

First Experimental Study of Transference-Interpretations (FEST)

U

University of Oslo

Status and phase

Completed
Phase 3
Phase 2

Conditions

Anxiety Disorders
Mood Disorders
Personality Disorders

Treatments

Behavioral: Brief dynamic psychotherapy

Study type

Interventional

Funder types

Other

Identifiers

NCT00423462
FEST307/95

Details and patient eligibility

About

Analysis of the ongoing patient-therapist interaction, the transference, is considered a key active ingredient in psychoanalytically oriented psychotherapy and psychoanalysis.However, one century after Sigmund Freuds's famous "Dora" case, the first clinical description of transference, no study of transference interpretations have been published.In the present study 100 out-patients were randomized to receive one year weekly dynamic psychotherapy, with and without transference interpretations. That is, one treatment component,transference interpretations, were added to a comparison condition, therapy of the same format, by the same therapists, but without use of transference interpretation.

All treatment session were audiotaped, and treatment integrity have been carefully checked. Patients were evaluated at treatment termination, one year after treatment termination and three years after treatment termination. Enrollment of patients started january 1993, and all follow-up evaluations completed by December 2005.

Full description

This study is designed to measure specific long-term effects of transference interpretations in dynamic psychotherapy, using an experimental dismantling design. One hundred psychiatric out-patients, referred to seven study therapists, to receive exploratory dynamic psychotherapy, were randomized to one year weekly dynamic psychotherapy, with and without transference interpretations.They suffered from mood,anxiety,and personality disorders or interpersonal problems not due to a mental disorder. All treatment sessions were audiotaped and treatment integrity carefully checked.All patients have been evaluated before treatment, after treatment, one year after termination of treatment, and three years after termination of treatment. The main outcome measures were the Psychodynamic Functioning Scales (PFS) and Inventory of Interpersonal Problems-Circumplex version (IIP-C).Chang over time is assessed using linear mixed model analyses.

The main hypothesis is that patients treated with transference interpretations will have a more favourable course over the whole study period of four years.

The second hypothesis is that suitable patients, that is patients with a life long pattern of more mature object relations (QOR) and/or patients without comorbid personality disorders will do better with transference interpretations.

Insight and identification with the therapist will be analyzed as putative mediators of long-term change in interpersonal functioning

Sex

All

Ages

20 to 60 years old

Volunteers

No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

  • Age 20 - 60 years
  • Diagnoses Mood-disorder, non-psychotic
  • Anxiety disorders
  • Personality disorders
  • Interpersonal problems not due to a mental disorder

Exclusion criteria

  • Psychotic disorders
  • Bipolar disorder
  • Organic brain disorder
  • Substance abuse
  • Long-term (years) disability
  • Mental retardation

Trial design

Primary purpose

Treatment

Allocation

Randomized

Interventional model

Parallel Assignment

Masking

Single Blind

Trial contacts and locations

1

Loading...

Data sourced from clinicaltrials.gov

Clinical trials

Find clinical trialsTrials by location
© Copyright 2026 Veeva Systems