How Do We Decide Which of Two Case Formulations Is Correct? Commentary on Westerman and Critchfield et al.

This commentary takes a meta-view of the articles in this module by Westerman (2021a), and by Critchfield, Dobner-Pereira and Stucker (2021a), which offer two overlapping but also different formulations of the same case. It raises the question of whether there is only one true formulation of a clinical case (correspondence theory), or whether any one of several would qualify as accurate (coherence theory). A third alternative is that the truth-value of a formulation is a function of its ability to predict which therapist interventions will most help the client (pragmatic theory). A study is described in which the relative accuracy of two different formulations of the same case was put to the test in predicting which therapist interventions led to client progress. I propose that the current authors compare the pragmatic value of their formulations in a similar manner

Theory Development via Single Cases: A Case Study of the Therapeutic Relationship in Psychodynamic Therapy

The goals of this paper are (a) to demonstrate how study of the therapeutic alliance in single cases of psychodynamic therapy can exemplify and instantiate theoretical concepts and lead to the development or refinement of psychotherapy theory, research and practice, as illustrated in the case of Ron and in Hans Strupp's classic analyses of pairs of comparable successful and unsuccessful cases; (b) to point out methodological challenges of case studies as a source of reliable and valid data; and (c) to illustrate the greater influence of clinical case studies compared to research reviews of the psychotherapy literature on the practitioner

Assimilative and Theoretical Integration in the Treatment of a Trauma Survivor

This commentary discusses the therapy of a trauma survivor from the perspective of psychotherapy integration. The case of Grace (Pass, 2012) illustrates the concept of assimilative integration in so far as it incorporates an expressive writing technique into Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy, which is itself a theoretical integration of psychodynamic and experiential approaches

Pragmatic Case Studies as a Source of Unity in Applied Psychology

To unify or not to unify applied psychology: that is the question. In this article we review pendulum swings in the historical efforts to answer this question—from a comprehensive, positivist, “top-down,” deductive yes between the 1930s and the early 60s, to a postmodern no since then. A rationale and proposal for a limited, “bottom-up,” inductive yes in applied psychology is then presented, employing a case-based paradigm that integrates both positivist and postmodern themes and components. This paradigm is labeled “pragmatic psychology” and, its specific use of case studies, the “Pragmatic Case Study Method” (“PCS Method”). We call for the creation of peer-reviewed journal-databases of pragmatic case studies as a foundational source of unifying applied knowledge in our discipline. As one example, the potential of the PCS Method for unifying different angles of theoretical regard is illustrated in an area of applied psychology, psychotherapy, via the case of Mrs. B. The article then turns to the broader historical and epistemological arguments for the unifying nature of the PCS Method in both applied and basic psychology.Peer reviewe

¿Prevalece el caos? Reflexiones sobre el eclecticismo técnico y la integración asimilativa

Lazarus contends that efforts to integrate psychotherapy at the theoretical level have fostered the same unfortunate profusion of competing approaches associated with nonintegrative traditional schools of psychotherapy. Messer views this flowering of integrative theories as unavoidable, even desirable, and as consistent with a social constructionist view of reality. As an alternative to theoretical integration, Lazarus advocates technical eclecticism, which he considers to be governed by observations rather than theories, and as such, draws freely upon techniques validated within other frameworks. Messer argues that such observations are necessarily theory laden, and that techniques imported from other therapies are colored by, and assimilated within, the new clinical and theoretical context in which they are employed, and therefore must be validated anew.Lazarus sostiene que los esfuerzos de integración de las psicoterapias a nivel teórico han fomentado una desafortunada proliferación de enfoques que rivalizan entre ellos, similar a la que ya existía entre las escuelas de psicoterapia no-integradoras tradicionales. Messer considera que este florecimiento de teorías integradoras es inevitable, e incluso deseable, y es consistente con una visión construccionista social de la realidad. Lazarus aboga por el eclecticismo técnico, regido más por observaciones que por teorías, como alternativa a la integración teórica. Este autor considera útil aprovechar técnicas validadas en distintos marcos de referencia. Messer argumenta que las observaciones están cargadas necesariamente de contenido teórico, y que las técnicas importadas de otras escuelas de terapia son asimiladas y modificadas por el nuevo contexto clínico y teórico en que son empleadas, por lo que debieran ser validadas de nuevo