@article{HahnWeckWitthoeftetal.2022, author = {Hahn, Daniela and Weck, Florian and Witth{\"o}ft, Michael and Maiwald, Lisa Marie and Foral, Annika and K{\"u}hne, Franziska}, title = {Wie erleben Psychotherapeut_innen in Ausbildung ihre Selbsterfahrung?}, series = {Zeitschrift f{\"u}r Klinische Psychologie und Psychotherapie}, volume = {50}, journal = {Zeitschrift f{\"u}r Klinische Psychologie und Psychotherapie}, number = {2}, publisher = {Hogrefe}, address = {G{\"o}ttingen}, issn = {1616-3443}, doi = {10.1026/1616-3443/a000626}, pages = {78 -- 89}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Background: Self-experiential work is a central component of psychotherapy training. However, research on this matter has not received a lot of attention. Objective: This study explores the conditions and effects of helpful self-experiential work. Method: We interviewed 14 psychotherapists in training using a semistructured interview guide and applied qualitative content analysis according to Mayring (2015). Results: Different characteristics were associated with helpful self-experiential work: characteristics of the instructor (e. g., implementation skills), organization, willingness of the trainees to learn, topics and methods applied, and a sustainable working atmosphere. Among the positive effects reported was the promotion of the trainees' interpersonal competencies. Furthermore, we found some side effects and negative impact (e. g.. exhaustion). Conclusions: We were able to extract conditions that can guide the execution of helpful self-experiential work and the effects of self-experiential work from the perspective of the trainees.}, language = {de} } @article{WeckKaufmannWitthoeft2017, author = {Weck, Florian and Kaufmann, Yvonne Marie and Witth{\"o}ft, Michael}, title = {Topics and techniques in clinical supervision in psychotherapy training}, series = {Cognitive Behaviour Therapist}, volume = {10}, journal = {Cognitive Behaviour Therapist}, publisher = {Cambridge University Press}, address = {Cambridge}, issn = {1754-470X}, doi = {10.1017/S1754470X17000046}, pages = {17}, year = {2017}, abstract = {Clinical supervision is regarded as one of the most important components of psychotherapy training. In clinical practice, it has been found that the implementation of clinical supervision varies substantially and often differs from the recommendations made in the literature. The objective of the current study was to investigate the frequency of topics (e.g. ethical issues) and techniques (e.g. role play) in the clinical supervision of psychotherapy trainees in Germany. To this end, we considered supervisions in cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and psychodynamic therapy (PT). A total of 791 psychotherapy trainees (533 CBT and 242 PT) were asked via the internet to provide information about their current supervision sessions. We found that clinical supervision in psychotherapy training addressed topics that are central for the effective treatment of supervised patients (i.e. therapeutic interventions, therapeutic alliance, maintaining factors, and therapeutic goals). However, the most frequently used intervention in clinical supervision in psychotherapy training was case discussion. Rarely were techniques used that allowed the supervisor to give the supervisee feedback based on the supervisee's demonstrated competencies. For example, 46\% of the supervisors never used audiotapes or videotapes in the supervision. Differences between CBT and PT were rather small. Current practice regarding the techniques used in clinical supervision for psychotherapy trainees contradicts recommendations for active and feedback-oriented clinical supervision. Thus the potential of clinical supervision might not be fully used in clinical practice.}, language = {en} } @article{MaiwaldJungaLangetal.2019, author = {Maiwald, Lisa Marie and Junga, Yvonne Marie and Lang, Thomas and Montini, Romina and Witth{\"o}ft, Michael and Heider, Jens and Schr{\"o}der, Annette and Weck, Florian}, title = {The role of therapist and patient in-session behavior for treatment outcome in exposure-based cognitive behavioral therapy for panic disorder with agoraphobia}, series = {Journal of clinical psychology}, volume = {75}, journal = {Journal of clinical psychology}, number = {4}, publisher = {Wiley}, address = {Hoboken}, issn = {0021-9762}, doi = {10.1002/jclp.22738}, pages = {614 -- 626}, year = {2019}, abstract = {Objective There is a very limited amount of research on the relationship between therapist and patient in-session behavior and treatment outcome in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for panic disorder with agoraphobia (PD/AG). Additionally, the findings tend to be inconclusive. This study investigates the association between therapist competence, adherence, patient interpersonal behavior, and therapeutic alliance and outcome in a low-control CBT setting by using comprehensive measures. Methods Twenty-six patients with PD/AG received 12 sessions of exposure-based CBT. With regard to the outcome, treatments were classified either as problematic or nonproblematic by means of distinct criteria. Two raters evaluated the in-session behavior. Results Patient interpersonal behavior was significantly associated with outcome at follow-up (r = 0.49). At posttreatment, the correlation did not reach significance ( r = 0.34). Competence, adherence, and alliance were not outcome associated. Conclusion The findings emphasize the need for therapists to pay particular attention to patients' interpersonal behavior during treatment.}, language = {en} } @misc{GropalisBailerWecketal.2018, author = {Gropalis, Maria and Bailer, Josef and Weck, Florian and Witth{\"o}ft, Michael}, title = {Optimierung von Expositionstherapie bei pathologischen Krankheits{\"a}ngsten}, series = {Psychotherapeut}, volume = {63}, journal = {Psychotherapeut}, number = {3}, publisher = {Springer}, address = {New York}, issn = {0935-6185}, doi = {10.1007/s00278-018-0285-1}, pages = {188 -- 193}, year = {2018}, abstract = {Pathologische Krankheits{\"a}ngste wurden bislang nach ICD und DSM prim{\"a}r als somatoforme St{\"o}rung bzw. als somatische Belastungsst{\"o}rung klassifiziert. Theoretische Erw{\"a}gungen und empirische Befunde legen jedoch nahe, dass es sich bei pathologischen Krankheits{\"a}ngsten eigentlich um eine Angstst{\"o}rung handelt. Innerhalb des vorliegenden Beitrags wird daf{\"u}r argumentiert, dass Defizite in der aktuellen Behandlungspraxis und in der Wahrnehmung von Patienten mit Hypochondrie als „schwierige Patienten" teilweise auf Unklarheit in der Nosologie sowie bez{\"u}glich der entscheidenden Mechanismen der Entstehung und Aufrechterhaltung zur{\"u}ckzuf{\"u}hren sind. Ausgehend von innovativen theoretischen Ans{\"a}tzen zur Erkl{\"a}rung pathologischer Krankheits{\"a}ngste werden Vorschl{\"a}ge f{\"u}r eine verbesserte therapeutische Praxis skizziert. Der Fokus liegt hierbei auf einem verst{\"a}rken Einsatz expositionsbasierter Behandlungselemente, die sich am „Inhibitory-learning"-Ansatz orientieren und sich bei anderen Angstst{\"o}rungen bereits bew{\"a}hrt haben.}, language = {en} } @article{WeckJungaKliegletal.2021, author = {Weck, Florian and Junga, Yvonne Marie and Kliegl, Reinhold and Hahn, Daniela and Brucker, Katharina and Witth{\"o}ft, Michael}, title = {Effects of competence feedback on therapist competence and patient outcome}, series = {Journal of consulting and clinical psychology}, volume = {89}, journal = {Journal of consulting and clinical psychology}, number = {11}, publisher = {American Psychological Association}, address = {Washington}, issn = {0022-006X}, doi = {10.1037/ccp0000686}, pages = {885 -- 897}, year = {2021}, abstract = {Objective: Therapist competence is considered essential for the success of psychotherapy. Feedback is an intervention which has the potential to improve therapist competence. The present study investigated whether competence feedback leads to an improvement of therapist competence and patient outcome. Method: Sixty-seven master-level clinical trainees were randomly assigned to either a competence feedback group (CFG) or a control group (CG). Patients with a diagnosis of major depression (N = 114) were randomly assigned to CFG or CG. Treatment included 20 individual sessions of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). In CFG, therapists received, parallel to the treatment, five competence feedbacks, based on videotaped therapy sessions. Independent raters assessed therapist competence with the Cognitive Therapy Scale (CTS) and provided the competence feedback. Patient outcome was evaluated with the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) and therapeutic alliance (Helping Alliance Questionnaire [HAQ]) from both therapist's (HAQ-T) and patient's (HAQ-P) perspective were evaluated after each of the 20 sessions. Results: (a) Therapist competence (CTS) increased significantly more for CFG than CG. (b) Depression (BDI-II) decreased significantly across sessions for both groups, but without evidence for a group-differential benefit for the CFG. (c) Therapeutic alliance (HAQ-T/P) increased significantly across sessions for both groups from both perspectives, but without group differences. (d) There is a positive effect of BDI-II on CTS at the beginning and a negative effect of CTS on BDI-II at the end of therapy. Conclusion: Competence feedback improves therapists' independently rated competence, but there is no evidence that competence feedback in CBT leads to better outcome. What is the public health significance of this article? This study suggests the substantial value of systematic competence feedback for improving therapist competence in the psychotherapy of depression. No significant effect of competence feedback on the reduction of reported depressive symptoms was found.}, language = {en} } @article{WeckWitthoeft2017, author = {Weck, Florian and Witth{\"o}ft, Michael}, title = {Context effects in the evaluation of bodily symptoms}, series = {Journal of experimental psychopathology}, volume = {8}, journal = {Journal of experimental psychopathology}, publisher = {Sage Publishing}, address = {London}, issn = {2043-8087}, doi = {10.5127/jep.054216}, pages = {241 -- 251}, year = {2017}, abstract = {The illness-related evaluation of bodily symptoms is considered to be an important maintaining factor in somatoform disorders. However, little is known about context variables that could influence this evaluation process. In the current study, participants completed three versions of the Health Norms Sorting Task (HNST) and evaluated bodily symptoms in different contexts (i.e., different evaluation perspectives and time frames of evaluation). Additionally, the three HNST versions were presented in different orders. Bodily symptoms were evaluated more often as a sign of illness when a specific time frame (i.e., one week) was given. However, this context effect was only large when participants had previously evaluated symptoms existing without a concrete duration. Thus, previously completed symptom evaluations appear to represent an important frame of reference in terms of a cue that makes specific context variables salient. The results further suggested that these cueing effects might be less relevant for participants with elevated somatic symptom reports.}, language = {en} } @article{HahnWeckWitthoeftetal.2021, author = {Hahn, Daniela and Weck, Florian and Witth{\"o}ft, Michael and K{\"u}hne, Franziska}, title = {Assessment of counseling self-efficacy}, series = {Frontiers in psychology / Frontiers Research Foundation}, volume = {12}, journal = {Frontiers in psychology / Frontiers Research Foundation}, publisher = {Frontiers Research Foundation}, address = {Lausanne}, issn = {1664-1078}, doi = {10.3389/fpsyg.2021.780088}, pages = {10}, year = {2021}, abstract = {Background: Many authors regard counseling self-efficacy (CSE) as important in therapist development and training. The purpose of this study was to examine the factor structure, reliability, and validity of the German version of the Counselor Activity Self-Efficacy Scales-Revised (CASES-R). Method: The sample consisted of 670 German psychotherapy trainees, who completed an online survey. We examined the factor structure by applying exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis to the instrument as a whole. Results: A bifactor-exploratory structural equation modeling model with one general and five specific factors provided the best fit to the data. Omega hierarchical coefficients indicated optimal reliability for the general factor, acceptable reliability for the Action Skills-Revised (AS-R) factor, and insufficient estimates for the remaining factors. The CASES-R scales yielded significant correlations with related measures, but also with therapeutic orientations. Conclusion: We found support for the reliability and validity of the German CASES-R. However, the subdomains (except AS-R) should be interpreted with caution, and we do not recommend the CASES-R for comparisons between psychotherapeutic orientations.}, language = {en} } @article{JungaWitthoeftWeck2019, author = {Junga, Yvonne Marie and Witth{\"o}ft, Michael and Weck, Florian}, title = {Assessing therapist development: Reliability and validity of the Supervisee Levels Questionnaire (SLQ-R)}, series = {Journal of clinical psychology}, volume = {75}, journal = {Journal of clinical psychology}, number = {9}, publisher = {Wiley}, address = {Hoboken}, issn = {0021-9762}, doi = {10.1002/jclp.22794}, pages = {1658 -- 1672}, year = {2019}, language = {en} }