DO CHILDHOOD MEMORIES INFLUENCE THE THERAPEUTIC RELATIONSHIP? AN EMPIRICAL BAYESIAN SEM APPROACH.

Abstract

This study aims to explore the interplay of these concepts in a sample patients diagnosed with schizophrenia and related psychotic disorders. Hence, the potentially mediating role of countertransference in the relationship between recalled parenting styles, childhood trauma and therapeutic working alliance was examined. A total sample of 30 patients (Age: 38.60; SD = 16.37; 50% female) treated for psychotic disorders in an inpatient setting were assessed. Pathways between the variables Recalled Parental Styles, Childhood Trauma, Countertransference and Working Alliance were estimated via frequentist and empirical Bayesian Structural Equation Modeling (EBSEM). Both maximum likelihood and EBSEM derived results suggested direct effects of remembered parental style on childhood trauma, as well as of childhood trauma on negative countertransference. Positive and negative countertransference were associated with working alliance. Furthermore, the findings suggested indirect effects of remembered parental style on negative countertransference via childhood trauma, as well as remembered parental style with working alliance mediated via childhood trauma and negative countertransference. Childhood trauma showed a significant indirect effect on working alliance via negative countertransference. The results provide preliminary support for the idea that traumatic memories from the past influence the therapeutic relationship in the present. In correspondence to this, the clinical significance of concepts like reverie and containment are discussed.