Journal Article

How do adolescents with depression experience improvement in psychodynamic psychotherapy? A qualitative study

Nilsen, Liv, Løvgren, André, Ulberg, Randi, Røssberg, Jan Ivar, Engebretsen, Eivind

2019

Overview

Background There is emerging evidence for the effectiveness of psychodynamic psychotherapy for depressive disorders. However, we know less of how this relation-focused therapy mode is experienced and what the patients themselves identify as helpful. Hence, the purpose of this study is to explore adolescents’ experiences of factors promoting improvement in psychodynamic therapy. Methods Eight female patients participating in a Norwegian study on psychodynamic therapy, the First Experimental Study of Transference Work – In Teenagers (FEST-IT), were included. The participants were offered a total number of 28 sessions. Semi-structured qualitative interviews about experiences with therapy were then conducted and analysed with systematic text condensation and hermeneutic interpretation. Results The analysis revealed four main themes. ‘Exploring oneself’ comprises autonomy and acknowledgment, openness, insight and acceptance of oneself. ‘Therapist relation and characteristics’ includes confidence and trust in and support from the therapist as well as having a trustworthy and experienced therapist. ‘Focusing on everyday life’ includes learning and practical orientation. ‘Time factors’ refers to duration and frequency. Conclusions Together with a supportive and listening therapist, the adolescents improve by exploring themselves within the frames of a time-limited treatment period. Improvement seems to be experienced through better relations to oneself and to others and by finding one’s place in the family, or at school. Adolescents value problem solving and help with concrete challenges. Hence, therapy should be tailored to the needs of adolescents with depression and incorporate the challenges they face in their everyday life. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov . Id: NCT01531101. Date of registry: 8 February 2012, retrospectively registered.

• Publisher: BioMed Central,BioMed Central Ltd,Springer Nature B.V,BMC
• Subject: Adolescent / adolescent and developmental psychiatry / Adolescent Behavior - psychology / Adolescent depression / Adolescents / Analysis / Autonomy / Care and treatment / Child / Child & adolescent psychiatry / Childhood mental disorders / Contract negotiations / Depression (Mood disorder) / Depressive Disorder - diagnosis / Depressive Disorder - psychology / Depressive Disorder - therapy / Experiences of improvement / Female / Humans / Major depressive disorder / Medical research / Medicine / Medicine & Public Health / Mental depression / Patients / Problem solving / Psychiatry / Psychodynamic psychotherapy / Psychological aspects / Psychotherapy / Psychotherapy, Psychodynamic - methods / Psychotherapy, Psychodynamic - standards / Psychotherapy, Psychodynamic - trends / Qualitative Research / Qualitative study / Quality of life / Research Article / Retrospective Studies / Risk factors / Teenagers / Therapeutic change / Time Factors / Treatment Outcome / Women / Youth