“8-Year Follow-Up of Patients Treated for Borderline Personality Disorder: Mentalization-Based Treatment Versus Treatment as Usual.” By Anthony Bateman and Peter Fonagy; published 2008 in The American Journal of Psychiatry.

• ABRIDGED ABSTRACT: Objective: This study evaluated the effect of mentalization-based treatment by partial hospitalization compared to treatment as usual for borderline personality disorder 8 years after entry into a randomized, controlled trial and 5 years after all mentalization-based treatment was complete. Conclusions: Patients with 18 months of mentalization-based treatment by partial hospitalization followed by 18 months of maintenance mentalizing group therapy remain better than those receiving treatment as usual, but their general social function remains impaired.

“The Effectiveness of Long-Term Psychoanalytic Therapy: A Systematic Review of Empirical Studies.” By Saskia de Maat, PhD, Frans de Jonghe, MD, PhD, Robert Schoevers, MD, PhD, and Jack Dekker, PhD; published 2009 in Harvard Review of Psychiatry.

• ABRIDGED ABSTRACT: Background: There is a gap in the research literature on the effectiveness of long-term psychoanalytic therapies (LPT). Aim: To present a systematic review of studies dealing with LPT effectiveness and published from 1970 onward. Conclusion: Our data suggest that LPT is effective treatment for a large range of pathologies, with moderate to large effects.

“Effectiveness of Long-term Psychodynamic Psychotherapy: A Meta-analysis.” By Falk Leichsenring and Sven Rabung; published 2008 in JAMA.

• ABRIDGED ABSTRACT: Context: The place of long-term psychodynamic psychotherapy (LTPP) within psychiatry is controversial. Convincing outcome research for LTPP has been lacking. Objective: To examine the effects of LTPP, especially in complex mental disorders, ie, patients with personality disorders, chronic mental disorders, multiple mental disorders, and complex depressive and anxiety disorders (ie, associated with chronic course and/or multiple mental disorders), by performing a meta-analysis. Conclusions: There is evidence that LTPP is an effective treatment for complex mental disorders. Further research should address the outcome of LTPP in specific mental disorders and should include cost-effectiveness analyses.

“The Efficacy of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy and Psychodynamic Therapy in the Outpatient Treatment of Major Depression: A Randomized Clinical Trial.” By Ellen Driessen, PhD, et al.; published 2013 in The American Journal of Psychiatry.

• ABRIDGED ABSTRACT: Objective: The efficacy of psychodynamic therapies for depression remains open to debate because of a paucity of high-quality studies. The authors compared the efficacy of psychodynamic therapy with that of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), hypothesizing nonsignificant differences and the noninferiority of psychodynamic therapy relative to CBT. Conclusions: The findings extend the evidence base of psychodynamic therapy for depression but also indicate that time-limited treatment is insufficient for a substantial number of patients encountered in psychiatric outpatient clinics.

“The Efficacy of Short-term Psychodynamic Psychotherapy in Specific Psychiatric Disorders: A Meta-analysis.” By Falk Leichsenring, Sven Rabung, and Eric Leibing; published 2004 in Arch Gen Psychiatry.

• ABRIDGED ABSTRACT: Background: The efficacy of psychodynamic therapy is controversial. Previous meta-analyses have reported discrepant results. Objective: To test the efficacy of short-term psychodynamic psychotherapy (STPP) in specific psychiatric disorders by performing a meta-analysis of more recent studies. We assessed outcomes in target problems, general psychiatric symptoms, and social functioning. Conclusions: Short-term psychodynamic psychotherapy proved to be an effective treatment in psychiatric disorders. However, further research of STPP in specific psychiatric disorders is needed, including a study of the active ingredients of STPP. Effectiveness studies should be included.

“The Empirical Status of Empirically Supported Psychotherapies: Assumptions, Findings, and Reporting in Controlled Clinical Trials.” By Drew Westen, Catherine M. Novotny, and Heather Thompson-Brenner; published 2004 in Psychological Bulletin.

• ABSTRACT: This article provides a critical review of the assumptions and findings of studies used to establish psychotherapies as empirically supported. The attempt to identify empirically supported therapies (ESTs) imposes particular assumptions on the use of randomized controlled trial (RCT) methodology that appear to be valid for some disorders and treatments (notably exposure-based treatments of specific anxiety symptoms) but substantially violated for others. Meta-analytic studies support a more nuanced view of treatment efficacy than implied by a dichotomous judgment of supported versus unsupported. The authors recommend changes in reporting practices to maximize the clinical utility of RCTs, describe alternative methodologies that may be useful when the assumptions underlying EST methodology are violated, and suggest a shift from validating treatment packages to testing intervention strategies and theories of change that clinicians can integrate into empirically informed therapies

“Long-term psychodynamic psychotherapy in complex mental disorders: update of a meta-analysis.” By Falk Leichsenring and Sven Rabung; published 2011 in The British Journal of Psychiatry.

• ABRIDGED ABSTRACT: Background: Dose–effect relationship data suggest that short-term psychotherapy is insufficient for many patients with chronic distress or personality disorders (complex mental disorders). Aims: To examine the comparative efficacy of long-term psychodynamic psychotherapy (LTPP) in complex mental disorders. Conclusions: Results suggest that LTPP is superior to less intensive forms of psychotherapy in complex mental disorders. Further research on long-term psychotherapy is needed, not only for psychodynamic psychotherapy, but also for other therapies.

“The Psychotherapist's Own Psychotherapy: Educating and Developing Psychologists.” By John C. Norcross; published 2005 in American Psychologist.

• ABSTRACT: In this article, the author synthesizes 25 years of his research on the personal therapy of mental health professionals. The author summarizes the high prevalence of personal treatment, its use by seasoned practitioners, its personal and professional goals, its typically positive outcomes, and its lasting lessons concerning the practice of psychotherapy. Particular attention is devoted to the therapist's selection of a personal therapist and the conduct of treatment with patients who are themselves psychotherapists in comparison with patients who are laypersons. The cumulative results indicate that personal therapy is an emotionally vital, interpersonally dense, and professionally formative experience that should be central to the development of health care psychologists.

“The Therapist’s Therapist: A Replication and Extension 20 Years Later.” By John C. Norcross, Denise H. Bike, and Krystle L. Evans; published 2009 in Psychotherapy Theory, Research, Practice, Training.

• ABSTRACT: How do mental health professionals choose their own psychotherapists? This study replicates and extends a 1987 national survey of psychotherapists regarding the selection criteria and sociodemographic characteristics of their personal therapists; 608 psychologists, counselors, and social workers participated. Therapists’ therapists tended to be middle aged and White (94%) but equally female and male. Their most frequent theoretical orientations were integrative, eclectic, cognitive, and psychodynamic (but rarely behavioral or systemic). Psychology was their most prevalent profession, followed by social work, counseling, and psychiatry. Topping the list of therapist selection criteria were competence, warmth, experience, openness, and reputation. The prototypical positive features of personal treatment that therapists repeated with their own patients all concerned cultivation of the therapeutic relationship. The 2007 results are tentatively compared with those obtained in 1987, thus chronicling the evolution of therapists’ therapists over the years.