Media type: E-Article Title: Treatment intensity and regularity in early outpatient psychotherapy and its relation to outcome Contributor: Kraft, Susanne; Puschner, Bernd; Kordy, Hans Published: Wiley, 2006 Published in: Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy, 13 (2006) 6, Seite 397-404 Language: English DOI: 10.1002/cpp.505 ISSN: 1063-3995; 1099-0879 Origination: Footnote: Description: AbstractThe distribution of treatment sessions (number of interruptions, weeks without psychotherapy and number of sessions) during the first three months of psychodynamic psychotherapy (PD), cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and psychoanalytic psychotherapy (PAP) was analyzed prospectively over two years in a sample of 256 outpatients.Number of weeks without psychotherapy in early treatment was predicted by initial helping alliance in PD and by initial quality of interpersonal relations in CBT. Level of initial psychological or physical impairment showed no effect on distribution of sessions during early treatment. In PD and CBT, session distribution early in treatment did not predict subsequent course of improvement. Only in PAP did weeks without psychotherapy and number of sessions affect rate of symptom change, in that participants showed better outcome when treatment started continuously at a rather slow pace. Implications for psychotherapy practice and research are discussed. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.