The association between patient-therapist MATRIX congruence and treatment outcome

Psychother Res. 2019 Oct;29(7):935-946. doi: 10.1080/10503307.2018.1448479. Epub 2018 Mar 14.

Abstract

Objective: The present study aimed to examine the association between patient-therapist micro-level congruence/incongruence ratio and psychotherapeutic outcome. Method: Nine good- and nine poor-outcome psychodynamic treatments (segregated by comparing pre- and post-treatment BDI-II) were analyzed (N = 18) moment by moment using the MATRIX (total number of MATRIX codes analyzed = 11,125). MATRIX congruence was defined as similar adjacent MATRIX codes. Results: the congruence/incongruence ratio tended to increase as the treatment progressed only in good-outcome treatments. Conclusion: Progression of MATRIX codes' congruence/incongruence ratio is associated with good outcome of psychotherapy.

Keywords: MATRIX; análise de processo; congruence; congruência; medidas de resultado; outcome measures; process analysis; 一致; 效果測量; 歷程分析.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care*
  • Professional-Patient Relations*
  • Psychotherapy, Psychodynamic*