Anxiety is one of the most common psychological disorders in school-age children, which has detrimental impact on behavioral, social, and emotional functioning. Cognitive-behavioral therapy has demonstrated effectiveness in treating youth with anxiety disorders; however, little is known about how or why this intervention is beneficial. This study explores the mechanisms of therapeutic change in anxious children and adolescents by evaluating clients’ perspectives through semi-structured interviews. A qualitative research method will be used to assess the thoughts, feelings, and experiences of youth and parents who participate in a cognitive-behavioral intervention program with a parent-training component. Specifically, grounded theory will be used to collect and analyze data and generate a theory, which explains the mechanisms of positive therapeutic change. / text

The purpose of this study was to explore the potential benefits of a primitive wilderness skills intervention (POST) on the therapeutic change process of adolescent females enrolled in a residential treatment center. A qualitative data analysis approach was used. A convenience sample of eight female adolescents was selected by therapist referral. The data were analyzed using open, axial, and selective coding. Data analysis was used to assess participants' progress in the therapeutic change. Further analysis revealed a core theme connecting participants' POST experience with feelings of self-empowerment and reflective connections to their individual therapeutic change process. Constructive enabling was the gerund provided to represent this core theme. Attributes of constructive enabling included the opportunity for creative expression, the recognition of and reliance on social resources, the application of individual effort in challenging situations, the completion of a finished product, and the facilitation of reflective thought.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-05T19:35:32Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 30 / Nenhuma / Essa pesquisa teve o objetivo de investigar aspectos da mudança terapêutica em adolescentes com sintomas depressivos, focalizando as características da representação mental do self e do objeto. Foram participantes dois adolescentes Paula de 16 anos, e Éderson de 15 anos, atendidos em Psicoterapia de Orientação Psicanalítica por um período de 24 sessões. Os instrumentos de análise dos dados utilizados foram o Perfil Desenvolvimental de Anna Freud (Freud, 1962/1976) e o Inventário de Relações Objetais (ORI) (Gruen & Blatt, 1990). Com o ORI, avaliaram-se as características do self e das representações objetais do paciente por meio de uma entrevista semi-estruturada na qual se solicitou ao paciente que descrevesse cada um dos indivíduos seguintes: mãe, pai e a si próprio. Como resultados, observaram-se, no caso de Paula, mudanças rudimentares nas representações mentais, mas mudanças importantes na área afetiva relacionadas aos pais, a maior capacidade empática, a diminuição da agressividade e a maior compreensão / The goal of this research project was to investigate aspects of therapeutic change in adolescents with depressive symptoms, focusing on the characteristics of the mental representation of both the self and the object. Two adolescents participated in it: 16-year-old Paula and 15-year-old Éderson, who were analyzed in 24 sessions using Psychotherapy of Psychoanalytic Orientation. The instruments used to analyze the data were Anna Freud’s Developmental Profile (Freud, 1962/1976) and the Object Relations Inventory (ORI) (Gruen & Blatt, 1990). Through ORI the researcher assessed the characteristics the patient’s self and his/her object representations via a semi-structured interview, in which the patient was asked to describe each of the following individuals: mother, father and the patient himself/herself. The results observed in the case of Paula were rudimentary changes of mental representations, but major changes in terms of affections related to her parents, more capacity for empathy, a decrease aggressivenes

De nombreuses études à ce jour ont démontré que le traitement des adolescents agresseurs sexuels (AAS) permet de réduire le risque de récidive mais très peu ont étudié les processus internes permettant d’aboutir à ces résultats. Le but de notre recherche était d’évaluer si le traitement des AAS amène à des changements au niveau des facteurs liés à l’agression sexuelle : les habiletés sociales déficitaires, l’isolement social, les stratégies d’adaptation inadaptées et les distorsions cognitives. L’impact de la motivation au changement et des symptômes de trauma sur les progrès thérapeutiques a également été pris en compte. Notre échantillon était composé de 43 adolescents agresseurs sexuels d’enfants ayant participé à un programme de traitement. Les résultats de nos analyses pré-post traitement indiquent des changements significatifs pour l’ensemble des facteurs liés à l’agression sexuelle ainsi qu’une diminution significative des symptômes de trauma. Ces changements sont tous positifs, hormis pour les habiletés sociales qui restent déficitaires. Les données sur la motivation n’étaient pas suffisantes pour établir si ce facteur était lié aux progrès thérapeutiques mais indiquaient qu’en moyenne, ces jeunes étaient motivés pour le changement. Enfin, des analyses corrélationnelles ont établi que les changements au niveau des symptômes de trauma étaient en lien avec ceux observés au niveau des habiletés sociales, de l’isolement social et des stratégies d’adaptation. / To this day, research has shown that the treatment of adolescent sexual offenders (AAS) reduces their risk of sexual recidivism. However, few studies to date have examined the internal process leading to these results. The purpose of our research was to determine whether the treatment of AAS leads to changes among factors related to sexual offending among AAS. The impact of motivation to change and trauma symptoms on therapeutic progress was also examined. Our sample consisted of 43 AAS who participated in a treatment program. The results of our pre-post treatment analysis indicate significant changes on social isolation, inadequate strategies of coping and cognitive distortions and a significant reduction of trauma symptoms. These changes are all positive, except for the social skills that remain in deficit. The data on motivation demonstrated that the youths in treatment were motivated for change but were not sufficient to establish whether this factor was linked to the progress of the subjects. Finally, correlational analyzes have established that the changes in trauma symptoms were related to those seen in social skills, social isolation and strategies of coping.

This study investigated the variance in subjective well-being (SWB) of early adolescents (n = 54) exposed to a positive psychology intervention aimed at increasing positive affect and life satisfaction as well as decreasing negative affect through intentional activities (e.g., gratitude journals, acts of kindness, use of character strengths, optimistic thinking). Understanding how to increase SWB among youth is important because of its associations with positive indicators of psychological and academic functioning. However, prior research is limited regarding interventions targeting SWB in youth and excludes the relation of common factors of therapeutic change. Based on the literature regarding therapeutic change, youth factors (i.e., parent support, social self-efficacy), therapeutic alliance, and participant expectancy for change were investigated to determine possible relation beyond the effects of intervention. Results of simultaneous multiple regression analyses indicate that specific common factors (i.e., expectancy, child-rated alliance, social self-efficacy), but not the SWB intervention, significantly relate to positive affect; further, data trends indicate the probable relation of positive psychology intervention to life satisfaction. Other data trends and indications for future research are discussed.

Therapeutic change has been widely researched in Clinical Psychology, using a variety of research methods in the production of knowledge. However, there is little empirical research on change in family therapy underpinned by a social constructionist perspective, and especially by the social poetics. This perspective defines the therapeutic conversation as an dialogical activity, and the poetics leads us back to the \"inside\" of such conversations, highlighting its constructive effects. In this study, we seek this understanding of the process of production of meanings built on therapeutic change in the Family Therapy care context. We aim specifically to: a) identify outstanding moments of the therapeutic process; and b) articulate them to a narrative of family change. In this study, we analyzed the therapeutic process of two families based on the transcripts of audio-taped sessions. Participants were two family groups consisting of: a) mother and daughter; and b) three sisters. The steps of the analysis consisted of: a) exhaustive and curious reading of the sessions transcribed in order to apprehend the dynamism of conversational process; b) identification of remarkable moments in the therapeutic process, as defined by family members and/or the therapist; c) descriptive analysis of striking moments, introducing the context of its occurrence and the involvement of the family and therapist; and d) articulation of the interrelations between the prominent moments during sessions, indicating a narrative of therapeutic change. The analysis pointed out that the conversational construction of therapeutic change in the first family was marked by shifting the discourse from the initial work related health problem of the mother to a discourse of the agency with the care in life. Such construction was analyzed in relation to three key aspects: (a) The deconstruction of the meaning of work, (b) The redefinition of the mother-daughter relationship, and (c) Reconstruction of life. In the second family, the process of meaning construction was marked by the displacement of the discourse of an individual problem - the concern of one daughter for the illness of her mother to a description guided by relational responsibility, also analyzed from three aspects: (a) The course of illness, (b) Coconstructing care, and (c) Life care. The analysis allowed further comprehension of two underlying distinct processes, Agency and Relational Responsibility as ways to promote therapeutic change in family therapy. This study draws our attention to these discursive forms present in the construction of meaning and knowledge production. / A mudança terapêutica tem sido amplamente pesquisada em Psicologia Clínica, utilizando-se uma diversidade de métodos de pesquisa na produção de conhecimento sobre a mesma. Contudo, há poucas pesquisas empíricas sobre a mudança em Terapia Familiar sustentadas por uma perspectiva construcionista social e, especialmente, pela poética social. Essa perspectiva define a conversa terapêutica como atividade dialógica e a poética nos remete para dentro de tais conversas, evidenciando seus efeitos construtivos. Assim, neste estudo, buscamos este entendimento do processo de produção de sentidos sobre a mudança terapêutica construído no contexto de atendimento em Terapia Familiar. Visamos especificamente: a) identificar momentos marcantes do processo terapêutico; e b) articulá-los a uma narrativa de mudança da família. Nesta pesquisa, analisamos o processo terapêutico de duas famílias a partir da transcrição integral das sessões áudio-gravadas. Os participantes da pesquisa foram dois núcleos familiares constituído por: a) mãe e filha; e b) três irmãs. Os passos da análise consistiram na: a) leitura exaustiva e curiosa das sessões transcritas com vistas a apreender o dinamismo do processo conversacional; b) identificação de momentos marcantes do processo terapêutico, tais como definidos pelos membros da família e/ou pela terapeuta; c) análise descritiva dos momentos marcantes, apresentando o contexto de sua ocorrência e a participação da família e da terapeuta; e d) articulação das inter-relações entre os momentos marcantes apontando para uma narrativa da mudança terapêutica. A análise apontou que a construção conversacional da mudança terapêutica na primeira família foi marcada pelo deslocamento do discurso inicial do problema de saúde da mãe oriundo do trabalho para o discurso do agenciamento com o cuidado da vida. Tal construção foi analisada em relação a três aspectos centrais: (a) A desconstrução do sentido do trabalho; (b) A redefinição da relação mãe-filha; e (c) A reconstrução da vida. Na segunda família, o processo de construção de sentidos foi marcado pelo deslocamento do discurso do problema individual preocupação de uma filha com a doença da mãe para uma descrição pautada por uma responsabilidade relacional, analisados também sob três aspectos: (a) O agir no adoecimento; (b) Coconstruindo o cuidado; e (c) O cuidado com a vida. A análise permitiu ainda compreender dois processos distintos subjacentes, o agenciamento e a responsabilidade relacional como formas de promover a mudança terapêutica em Terapia Familiar. Este estudo nos atenta para estas formas discursivas presentes na construção de sentidos e na produção de conhecimento. / Mestre em Psicologia