TA treatment of depression : a hermeneutic single-case efficacy design study - 'Luisa'

Benelli, E; Boschetti, D; Piccirillo, C; Quagliotti, L; Calvo, V; Palmieri, A; Sambin, M; Widdowson, MDJ

Abstract

This study is the third of a series of three, and represents
an Italian systematic replication of previous UK findings
(Widdowson 2012a, 2012b, 2012c, 2013) that
investigated the effectiveness of a recently manualised
transactional analysis treatment for depression with
British clients, using Hermeneutic Single-Case Efficacy
Design (HSCED). The various stages of HSCED as a
systematic case study research method are described,
as a quasi-judicial method to sift case evidence in which
researchers construct opposing arguments around
quantitative and qualitative multiple source evidences
and judges evaluate these for and against propositions
to conclude whether the client changed substantially over
the course of therapy and that the outcome was
attributable to the therapy. The therapist in this case was
a white Italian woman with 10 years clinical experience
and the client, Luisa, was a 65-year old white Italian
woman who attended sixteen sessions of TA therapy.
Luisa satisfied DSM-5 criteria for severe adjustment
disorder, with moderate depression and mixed deflected
humour and anxiety, for which she had been taking
medications and homeopathic treatments for over a year.
The conclusion of the judges was that this was a good-
outcome case: the client improved over the course of the
therapy, reported a positive experience of therapy and
maintained this improvement at the end of the follow-up.

Citation

Benelli, E., Boschetti, D., Piccirillo, C., Quagliotti, L., Calvo, V., Palmieri, A., …Widdowson, M. (2016). TA treatment of depression : a hermeneutic single-case efficacy design study - 'Luisa'. International Journal of Transactional Analysis Research, 7(1), 35-50

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Jan 30, 2016
• Deposit Date: Feb 8, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 5, 2016
• Journal: International Journal of Transactional Analysis Research
• Print ISSN: 2218-3159
• Publisher: European Association for Transactional Analysis
• Volume: 7
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 35-50
• Publisher URL: http://www.ijtar.org/article/view/16055/0
• Related Public URLs: http://www.ijtar.org
• Additional Information: Projects : Toward a transactional analysis psychotherapy recognised as empirically supported treatment: an Italian of the replication series design’