Cargando…

Feasibility of Present-Centered Therapy for Prolonged Grief Disorder: Results of a Pilot Study

Present-centered therapy (PCT) was originally developed as a strong comparator for the non-specific effects of psychotherapy in the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder. PCT qualifies as a not strictly supportive treatment as it is structured and homework is assigned between sessions. It does...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Vogel, Anna, Comtesse, Hannah, Nocon, Agnes, Kersting, Anette, Rief, Winfried, Steil, Regina, Rosner, Rita
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8081969/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33935813
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.534664
_version_ 1783685749980266496
author Vogel, Anna
Comtesse, Hannah
Nocon, Agnes
Kersting, Anette
Rief, Winfried
Steil, Regina
Rosner, Rita
author_facet Vogel, Anna
Comtesse, Hannah
Nocon, Agnes
Kersting, Anette
Rief, Winfried
Steil, Regina
Rosner, Rita
author_sort Vogel, Anna
collection PubMed
description Present-centered therapy (PCT) was originally developed as a strong comparator for the non-specific effects of psychotherapy in the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder. PCT qualifies as a not strictly supportive treatment as it is structured and homework is assigned between sessions. It does not focus on cognitive restructuring or exposure. A growing body of literature supports its beneficial effects. For example, it demonstrated only slightly inferior effect sizes and lower dropout rates compared to that of trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy in several trials with patients suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder. The current study is the first to evaluate the feasibility and the treatment effects of PCT in adults with prolonged grief disorder (PGD). Meta-analyses on psychotherapy for PGD have yielded moderate effect sizes. N = 20 individuals suffering from PGD were treated with PCT by novice therapists as part of a preparation phase for an upcoming RCT in an outpatient setting. Treatment consisted of 20–24 sessions á 50 min. All outcomes were assessed before treatment, at post-treatment, and at the 3-month follow-up. The primary outcome, PGD symptom severity, was assessed using the Interview for Prolonged Grief-13. Secondary outcomes were self-reported PGD severity, depression, general psychological distress, and somatic symptom severity. Furthermore, therapists evaluated their experiences with their first PCT patient and the treatment manual. In intent-to-treat analyses of all patients we found a significant decrease in interview-based PGD symptom severity at post-treatment (d = 1.26). Decreases were maintained up to the 3-month follow-up assessment (d = 1.25). There were also significant decreases in self-reported PGD symptoms, depression, and general psychological distress. No changes were observed for somatic symptoms. The completion rate was 85%. Therapists deemed PCT to be a learnable treatment program that can be adapted to the patient's individual needs. The preliminary results of PCT as a treatment for PGD demonstrate large effects and indicate good feasibility in outpatient settings. The treatment effects were larger than those reported in meta-analyses. Thus, PCT is a promising treatment for PGD. Possible future research directions are discussed.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-8081969
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2021
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-80819692021-04-30 Feasibility of Present-Centered Therapy for Prolonged Grief Disorder: Results of a Pilot Study Vogel, Anna Comtesse, Hannah Nocon, Agnes Kersting, Anette Rief, Winfried Steil, Regina Rosner, Rita Front Psychiatry Psychiatry Present-centered therapy (PCT) was originally developed as a strong comparator for the non-specific effects of psychotherapy in the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder. PCT qualifies as a not strictly supportive treatment as it is structured and homework is assigned between sessions. It does not focus on cognitive restructuring or exposure. A growing body of literature supports its beneficial effects. For example, it demonstrated only slightly inferior effect sizes and lower dropout rates compared to that of trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy in several trials with patients suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder. The current study is the first to evaluate the feasibility and the treatment effects of PCT in adults with prolonged grief disorder (PGD). Meta-analyses on psychotherapy for PGD have yielded moderate effect sizes. N = 20 individuals suffering from PGD were treated with PCT by novice therapists as part of a preparation phase for an upcoming RCT in an outpatient setting. Treatment consisted of 20–24 sessions á 50 min. All outcomes were assessed before treatment, at post-treatment, and at the 3-month follow-up. The primary outcome, PGD symptom severity, was assessed using the Interview for Prolonged Grief-13. Secondary outcomes were self-reported PGD severity, depression, general psychological distress, and somatic symptom severity. Furthermore, therapists evaluated their experiences with their first PCT patient and the treatment manual. In intent-to-treat analyses of all patients we found a significant decrease in interview-based PGD symptom severity at post-treatment (d = 1.26). Decreases were maintained up to the 3-month follow-up assessment (d = 1.25). There were also significant decreases in self-reported PGD symptoms, depression, and general psychological distress. No changes were observed for somatic symptoms. The completion rate was 85%. Therapists deemed PCT to be a learnable treatment program that can be adapted to the patient's individual needs. The preliminary results of PCT as a treatment for PGD demonstrate large effects and indicate good feasibility in outpatient settings. The treatment effects were larger than those reported in meta-analyses. Thus, PCT is a promising treatment for PGD. Possible future research directions are discussed. Frontiers Media S.A. 2021-04-15 /pmc/articles/PMC8081969/ /pubmed/33935813 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.534664 Text en Copyright © 2021 Vogel, Comtesse, Nocon, Kersting, Rief, Steil and Rosner. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Psychiatry
Vogel, Anna
Comtesse, Hannah
Nocon, Agnes
Kersting, Anette
Rief, Winfried
Steil, Regina
Rosner, Rita
Feasibility of Present-Centered Therapy for Prolonged Grief Disorder: Results of a Pilot Study
title Feasibility of Present-Centered Therapy for Prolonged Grief Disorder: Results of a Pilot Study
title_full Feasibility of Present-Centered Therapy for Prolonged Grief Disorder: Results of a Pilot Study
title_fullStr Feasibility of Present-Centered Therapy for Prolonged Grief Disorder: Results of a Pilot Study
title_full_unstemmed Feasibility of Present-Centered Therapy for Prolonged Grief Disorder: Results of a Pilot Study
title_short Feasibility of Present-Centered Therapy for Prolonged Grief Disorder: Results of a Pilot Study
title_sort feasibility of present-centered therapy for prolonged grief disorder: results of a pilot study
topic Psychiatry
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8081969/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33935813
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.534664
work_keys_str_mv AT vogelanna feasibilityofpresentcenteredtherapyforprolongedgriefdisorderresultsofapilotstudy
AT comtessehannah feasibilityofpresentcenteredtherapyforprolongedgriefdisorderresultsofapilotstudy
AT noconagnes feasibilityofpresentcenteredtherapyforprolongedgriefdisorderresultsofapilotstudy
AT kerstinganette feasibilityofpresentcenteredtherapyforprolongedgriefdisorderresultsofapilotstudy
AT riefwinfried feasibilityofpresentcenteredtherapyforprolongedgriefdisorderresultsofapilotstudy
AT steilregina feasibilityofpresentcenteredtherapyforprolongedgriefdisorderresultsofapilotstudy
AT rosnerrita feasibilityofpresentcenteredtherapyforprolongedgriefdisorderresultsofapilotstudy