Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dk4vv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-29T04:05:27.291Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Rule Emission: A Possible Variable for Improved Therapeutic Practice

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 October 2018

Ivette Vargas-de la Cruz ,
Rebeca Pardo-Cebrián ,
Héctor Martínez Sánchez  and
María Xesús Froján-Parga
Ivette Vargas-de la Cruz*
Affiliation:
Universidad de Guadalajara (Mexico)
Rebeca Pardo-Cebrián
Affiliation:
Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Spain)
Héctor Martínez Sánchez
Affiliation:
Universidad de Guadalajara (Mexico)
María Xesús Froján-Parga
Affiliation:
Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Spain)
*
*Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Ivette Vargas-de la Cruz. Instituto de Neurociencias de la Universidad de Guadalajara. Sierra Mojada 950, Puerta 3, Edificio N. Colonia Independencia. 44340 Guadalajara (Mexico). Phone: +52–3310585200 (ext 34121). E-mail: rosa.vargas@academico.udg.mx
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

It has been suggested that achieving greater effectiveness in psychotherapeutic treatment requires analyzing what therapists actually do and say, how they do this and when it is done. Based on this approach, in this study we focused on the rules emitted by therapists, since providing rules is thought to be of fundamental importance in promoting effective and efficient clinical change. Specifically, we sought to determine whether the experience level of therapists and the brevity of therapy would be related to patterns of therapist rule emission as categorized by the Category System of Rules emitted by the Therapist (SISC-RULES-T) (Vargas-de la Cruz & Pardo-Cebrián, 2014). Greater therapist experience and shorter therapy duration were found to be reliably predictive of more rule emissions across most rule categories (Z values between: Z = –3.68 and Z = –2.05; p values: p < .05 and p < .001). These variables were also predictive of more emissions of rules that specified all three operant contingency elements (situation, behavior, and consequence) rather than fewer elements (Z = –2.59, p < .05; Z = –2.26, p < .05). In the expert therapists and therapist with shorter cases, there was a nonsignificant tendency for the emission of general and conceptual rules to increase over sessions whereas emissions of concrete and particular rules tended to decrease; the explicitness of the three contingency elements also tended to decrease as treatment progressed. These findings may help to identify verbal characteristics of therapists that could lead to improved therapeutic practice.

Keywords

effectivenessrulestherapeutic processtherapistverbal behavior
Type
Research Article
Information
The Spanish Journal of Psychology , Volume 21 , 2018 , E38
Copyright
Copyright © Universidad Complutense de Madrid and Colegio Oficial de Psicólogos de Madrid 2018 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abreu, P. R., Costa Hübner, M. M., & Lucchese, F. (2012). The role of shaping the client’s interpretations in functional analytic psychotherapy. The Analysis of Verbal Behavior, 28, 151–157. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03393117CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bados-López, A., García-Grau, E., & Fusté-Escolano, A. (2002). Eficacia y utilidad clínica de la terapia psicológica [Efficacy and clinical utility of psychological therapy]. International Journal of Clinical and Health Psychology, 2(3), 477–502.Google Scholar
Bakeman, R. (2000). Behavioral observation and coding. In Reis, H. T. & Judd, C. M. (Eds.), Handbook of research methods in social and personality psychology (pp. 138–159). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Bakeman, R., Quera, V., McArthur, D., & Robinson, B. F. (1997). Detecting sequential patterns and determining their reliability with fallible observers. Psychological Methods, 2, 357–370. https://doi.org/10.1037/1082-989X.2.4.357CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baldwin, S. A., & Imel, Z. E. (2013). Therapist effects: Findings and methods. Bergin and Garfield’s handbook of psychotherapy and behavior change, 6, 258–297.Google Scholar
Benedick, H., & Dixon, M. R. (2009). Instructional control of self-control in adults with co-morbid developmental disabilities and mental illness. Journal of Developmental and Physical Disabilities, 21, 457–471. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10882-009-9166-4CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cuper, P., Merwin, R., & Lynch, T. (2007). Personality disorders. In Sturmey, P. (Ed.), Functional analysis in clinical treatment (pp. 403–428). San Diego, CA, US: Elsevier Academic Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Echeburúa, E., & Corral, P. (2001). Eficacia de las terapias psicológicas: De la investigación a la práctica clínica [Efficacy of psychological therapies: From research to clinical practice]. Revista Internacional de Psicología Clínica y de la Salud, 1, 181–204.Google Scholar
Froján Parga, M. X., Pardo Cebrián, R., Vargas de la Cruz, I., & Linares Carmona, F. (2011). Análisis de las reglas en el contexto clínico [Analysis of the rules in the clinical context]. EduPsykhé, 10(1), 135–154.Google Scholar
Froján-Parga, M. X., Ruiz-Sancho, E. M., Montaño-Fidalgo, M., Calero-Elvira, A., & Alpañés-Freitag, M. (2011). Estudio comparativo de la conducta verbal del terapeuta según su experiencia durante la evaluación clínica [Comparative study of the verbal behavior of the therapist according to his experience during the clinical evaluation]. Anales de Psicología, 27(2), 311–318.Google Scholar
Guinther, P. M., & Dougher, M. J. (2013). From behavioral research to clinical therapy. In Madden, J. G., Dube, W. V., Hackenberg, T. D., Hanley, G. P., & Lattal, K. A. (Eds.), APA handbook of behavior analysis, Vol. 2: Translating principles into practice (pp. 3–32). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/13938-001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hayes, S. C., Blackledge, J. T. & Barnes-Holmes, D. (2001). Language and cognition: Constructing an alternative approach within the behavioral tradition. In Hayes, S. C., Barnes-Holmes, D., & Roche, B. (Eds.), Relational frame theory: A post-Skinnerian account of human language and cognition . (pp. 3–20). Nueva York, NY: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers.Google Scholar
Hayes, S. F., Zettle, D. R., & Rosenfarb, I. (1989). Rule-following. In Hayes, S. F. (Ed.), Rule governed behavior: Cognition, contingencies and instructional control (pp. 191–220). Nueva York, NY: Plenum Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hung, L. (2006). The use of verbal response tokens in psychotherapy. Dissertation Abstracts International: Section B. The Sciences and Engineering, 66(9–B), 5090.Google Scholar
Kanter, J. W., Cautilli, J. D., Busch, A. M., & Baruch, D. E. (2011). Toward a comprehensive functional analysis of depressive behavior: Five environmental factors and possible sixth and seventh. The Behavior Analyst Today, 6(1), 65–81. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0100055CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kensche, M., & Schweiger, U. (2015). Relational Frame Theory - A theoretical framework for contextual behavioral science. Psychotherapie, Psychosomatik, Medicinische Psychologie, 65(7), 273–284. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0034-1399897Google ScholarPubMed
Labrador, F. J., De Quirós, M. B., & Estupiñá, F. J. (2011). ¿Por qué se alargan los tratamientos psicológicos? Predictores de una mayor duración del tratamiento y diferencias entre los casos de corta y larga duración [Why are psychological treatments lengthened? Predictors of longer treatment duration and differences between short and long term cases]. Psicothema, 23(4), 573–579.Google Scholar
Labrador, F. J., Echeburúa, E., & Becoña, E. (2000). Guía para la elección de tratamientos psicológicos efectivos: Hacia una nueva psicología [Guide for the choice of effective psychological treatments: Towards a new Psychology]. Madrid, Spain: Dykinson, S.L.Google Scholar
López, C. A., Muñoz, A., & Ballesteros, B. P. (2005). Cambio del contexto social-verbal desde la teoría de marcos relacionales en mujeres en riesgo de problemas alimentarios [Changing social-verbal context from Relational Frame Theory in women at risk for eating problems]. Revista Latinoamericana de Psicología, 37, 359–378.Google Scholar
Martínez, H., & Tamayo, R. (2005). Interactions of contingencies, instructional accuracy, and instructional history in conditional discrimination. The Psychological Record, 55, 633–646. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03395531CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Merwin, R. M., Timko, C. A., Moskovich, A. A., Ingle, K. K., Bulik, C. M., & Zucker, N. L. (2010). Psychological inflexibility and symptom expression in anorexia nervosa. Eating disorders: The Journal of Treatment & Prevention, 19, 62–82. https://doi.org/10.1080/10640266.2011.533606CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Orlinsky, D., Ronnestad, M. H., Ambühl, H., Willutzki, U., Botersman, J., Cierpka, M., et al (1999). Psychotherapists’ assessments of their development at different career levels. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice, Training, 36, 203–215.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Palmer, D. C. (2012). The role of atomic repertoires in complex behavior. The Behavior Analyst, 35, 59–73. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03392266CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Plaud, J. J., & Plaud, D. M. (1998). Clinical behavior therapy and the experimental analysis of behavior. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 54, 905–921. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1097-4679(199811)54:7<905::AID-JCLP5>3.0.CO;2-D3.0.CO;2-D>CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Poppen, R. L. (1989). Some clinical implications of rule-governed behavior. In Hayes, S. C. (Ed.), Rule-governed behavior. Cognition, contingencies and instructional control (pp. 325–357). New York, NY: Plenum Press.Google Scholar
Ribes Iñesta, E. (1990). Psicología y salud: Un análisis conceptual [Psychology and health: A conceptual analysis]. Distrito Federal, México: Trillas.Google Scholar
Schlinger, H. D. (1990). A reply to behavior analysts writing about rules and rule-governed behavior. The Analysis of Verbal Behavior, 8, 77–82. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03392849CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Skinner, B. F. (1966). An operant analysis of problem solving. In Kleinmuntz, B. (Ed.), Problem solving: Research, method and theory (pp. 225–257). New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
Skinner, B. F. (1981). Conducta verbal [Verbal behavior]. Distrito Federal, México: Trillas.Google Scholar
Schöttke, H., Flückiger, C., Goldberg, S. B., Eversmann, J., & Lange, J. (2017). Predicting psychotherapy outcome based on therapist interpersonal skills: A five-year longitudinal study of a therapist assessment protocol. Psychotherapy Research, 27(6), 642–652. https://doi.org/10.1080/10503307.2015.1125546CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stangier, U. (2015). Psychotherapeutische kompetenzen in der kognitiven verhaltenstherapie [Psychotherapist competencies in cognitive behavioral therapy]. Psychotherapeut, 60, 193–198. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00278-015-0022-yCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sturmey, P., Ward-Horner, J., Marroquin, M., & Doran, E. (2007). Advanced concepts and methods of intervention in behavioral approaches to psychopathology. In Sturmey, P. (Ed.), Functional analysis in clinical treatment (pp. 51–64). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Törneke, N., Luciano, C., & Valdivia, S. (2008). Rule-governed behavior and psychological problems. International Journal of Psychology and Psychological Therapy, 8, 141–156.Google Scholar
Turner, S. M., Beidel, D. C., Spaulding, S. A., & Brown, J. (1995). The practice of behavior therapy: A national survey of cost and methods. The Behavior Therapist, 18, 1–4.Google Scholar
Vargas-de la Cruz, I., & Pardo Cebrian, R. (2014). El papel de la experiencia del cliente en la aplicación de reglas en el contexto clínico [The role of client experience in the application of rules in the clinical context]. Conductual, 2(3), 36–51.Google Scholar
Zettle, R. D., & Hayes, S. C. (1983). Effect of social context on the impact of coping self- statements. Psychological Reports, 52, 391–401. https://doi.org/10.2466/pr0.1983.52.2.391CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed