Using The Core Conflictual Relationship Themes (ccrt) Method As A Countertransference Coding Technique
Open Access
- Author:
- Johnson, Matt Christian
- Graduate Program:
- Counseling Psychology
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- December 17, 2014
- Committee Members:
- Jeffrey Hayes, Dissertation Advisor/Co-Advisor
Kathleen Bieschke, Committee Chair/Co-Chair
Louis Georges Castonguay, Committee Member
Joyce Karen Illfelder Kaye, Committee Member - Keywords:
- Countertransference
CCRT
Core Conflictual Relationship Theme
Transference
Coding
Therapist Reactions - Abstract:
- Abstract This study assessed the utility of the Core Conflictual Relationship Theme (CCRT) coding method, a method commonly utilized in the coding of transference as a method for coding countertransference (Luborsky, 1998). Though a few studies have used the CCRT as a measure for coding countertransference manifestations, most have used the CCRT as a means to an end (to examine therapist attachment, to compare therapist reactions to patients with different diagnoses, etc.) and none have held validating the CCRT as a viable countertransference coding method as their central focus. Thus, this study sought to answer three central research questions: First, can the CCRT coding system be used to identify a therapist’s countertransference template? Second, once extracted, will a therapist’s CCRT become evident throughout the course of therapy? Third, in regard to Gelso and Hayes’ (2007) integrative definition of countertransference, will a therapist’s CCRT only be activated with certain types of clients who provide an activating unresolved conflictual issue stemming from the therapist’s past and/or a therapy related event that provoked a countertransference manifestation? Results suggested that using the traditional RAP interview to extract the therapist’s transference template worked regarding the therapist’s transference template, but the form that the CCRT took during 14 audio-recorded therapy sessions was extremely limited and perhaps more socially acceptable, given the therapeutic context, than those seen in more intimate relationships. This finding could support Freud’s premise that transference templates manifest “with respect to the individual’s external circumstances, and the nature of what the available love objects will sanction” (1912/1958a p. 312-313). Additional results suggested that partial expressions of the CCRT may become active during the therapeutic session, specifically wishes (W) and responses to self (RS). Finally, the identification of origins, or unresolved conflictual issues was possible through the utilization of the CCRT coding method expressed in the manner of wishes (Ws), but there was little evidence that the identification of therapy related events that “triggered” countertransference manifestations, in the form of responses from others (ROs), were expressed or captured using the method.