Internalization of Interpersonal Process Time-limited Dynamic Psychotherapy

Seventy patients in outpatient psychodynamic, time-limited psychotherapy and their sixteen therapists participated in the Vanderbilt II psychotherapy research project. Results of an investigation of the internalization of therapist-patient relationships using the Structural Analysis of Social Behavior indicate that patients' intrapsychic functioning became more similar to interpersonal activity in the therapist-patient relationship over the course of psychotherapy. Intrapsychic movement toward interpersonal activity in the therapist—patient relationship was associated with positive outcome on measures of depression, anxiety, and on independent clinician ratings of patient psychological functioning. Implications for psychodynamic theory, practice, and research are discussed.