Predicting Change in Emotional Distress from Language Characteristics of Group Psychodynamic Therapy for Perfectionism: An Empirical Case Study.

Though psychodynamic group psychotherapy, like all therapy approaches, espouses the use of specific interventions and distinct mechanisms of change, in general, it is unclear the extent to which different therapy orientations actually differ in practice. The goal of this study was to use Linguistic...

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Published in:International Journal of Group Psychotherapy Vol. 75; no. 3; pp. 503 - 539
Main Authors: Markin, Rayna D., Kivlighan Jr., Dennis M., Marmarosh, Cheri, Ge, Sabrina, Hewitt, Paul L.
Format: Article
Published: Taylor & Francis Ltd Jul2025
Subjects:
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
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      dt: Jul2025
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      pub: Taylor & Francis Ltd
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        10.1080/00207284.2025.2456006
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        atl: Predicting Change in Emotional Distress from Language Characteristics of Group Psychodynamic Therapy for Perfectionism: An Empirical Case Study.
      aug:
        au:
          Markin, Rayna D.
          Kivlighan Jr., Dennis M.
          Marmarosh, Cheri
          Ge, Sabrina
          Hewitt, Paul L.
      su:
        Group psychotherapy
        Psychological distress
        Therapeutics
        Content analysis
        Interpersonal relations
        Psychodynamic psychotherapy
        Language ability testing
        Perfectionism (Personality trait)
      sug:
        subj:
          Group psychotherapy
          Psychological distress
          Therapeutics
          Content analysis
          Interpersonal relations
          Psychodynamic psychotherapy
          Language ability testing
          Perfectionism (Personality trait)
      ab: Though psychodynamic group psychotherapy, like all therapy approaches, espouses the use of specific interventions and distinct mechanisms of change, in general, it is unclear the extent to which different therapy orientations actually differ in practice. The goal of this study was to use Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC), a software for quantitative text analysis that counts words and calculates proportions of words from specific predefined categories, as a method for assessing in-session core characteristics of group psychodynamic psychotherapy for perfectionism. LIWC was used to assess the presence of the seven core characteristics found to be unique to individual psychodynamic psychotherapy in the group therapy context, and whether these core psychodynamic group characteristics, when assessed on the word level, predict week-to-week changes in group member-rated perfectionism-related emotional distress. Results suggest that group members' emotional distress increased in early sessions before decreasing in later sessions. Further, core psychodynamic in-session characteristics, including focusing on affect and emotions; identifying patterns in group members' actions, thoughts, feelings, experiences, and relationships; focusing on group members' interpersonal relationships; and focusing on group member–member or leader relationships, all predict less perfectionism-related emotional distress the following week.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
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