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Browsing by Author "Almeida, Ana Catarina Lima de"

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  • Empathy and emotional regulation in the treatment of depression: studies on their role in therapeutic change
    Publication . Almeida, Ana Catarina Lima de; Salgado, João Manuel Castro Faria; Jesus, Saúl Neves de
    Psychotherapy is effective for diverse disorders and relapse prevention, but understanding its mechanisms is a complex challenge in process-outcome research. Therapist empathy is key in predicting psychotherapy outcomes, often more influential than specific treatments, yet its precise role in therapy needs better clarification. Empathy`s role in fostering a safe environment for emotional exploration is particularly relevant for emotion regulation (ER) in disorders like depression. Current research on the relationship between therapist empathy and client ER is limited. This work, therefore, aims to deepen the understanding of how therapist-expressed empathy and client ER interact to facilitate therapeutic change in depression. To this end, three empirical studies were conducted based on the ISMAI Depression Study (Salgado, 2014), a comprehensive randomized clinical trial. The first study involved adapting and creating a Portuguese manual for the Observer Measure of Affect Regulation (O-MAR, Watson & Prosser, 2006). This adaptation enables a more detailed observation and measurement of ER in therapy sessions. Subsequently, the second study conducted an intensive case analysis of a good outcome case in Emotion Focused Therapy, examining the relationship between therapist-expressed empathy, client`s ER, and the general clinical symptoms. This study revealed a moderate, significant positive association between therapist`s empathy and client`s ER within the same session, emphasizing the immediate impact of empathy on client`s ER. Building on this finding, the third study investigated the joint contributions of the therapists` expressed empathy and clients` ER to the complex psychotherapy outcomes through a mediational model. Results corroborated the mediation role of clients` ER in the predictive effect of therapist empathy. These findings hold significant implications for both psychotherapy research and clinical practice, illustrating one possible way of how therapist empathy operates during psychotherapy process, contributing to the clarification of its role in clients` change.
    2024-11-25Doctoral thesis Open access Show more