An adjudicated hermeneutic single-case efficacy design study of experiential therapy for panic/phobia

Elliott, Robert and Partyka, Rhea and Alperin, Rebecca and Dobrenski, Robert and Wagner, John and Messer, Stanley B. and Watson, Jeanne C. and Castonguay, Louis G. (2009) An adjudicated hermeneutic single-case efficacy design study of experiential therapy for panic/phobia. Psychotherapy Research, 19 (4-5). pp. 543-557. ISSN 1050-3307 (https://doi.org/10.1080/10503300902905947)

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Abstract

This paper illustrates the application of an adjudicated form of Hermeneutic Single Case Efficacy Design (HSCED), a critical-reflective method for inferring change and therapeutic influence in single therapy cases. The client was a 61 year-old European-American male diagnosed with panic and bridge phobia. He was seen for 23 sessions of individual Process-Experiential/Emotion-Focused Therapy. In this study, affirmative and skeptic teams of researchers developed opposing arguments regarding whether the client changed over therapy and whether therapy was responsible for these changes. Three judges representing different theoretical orientations then assessed data and arguments, rendering judgments in favor of the affirmative side. We discuss clinical implications and recommendations for the future interpretive case study research.