A Process-Based Analysis of Cognitive Defusion in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy.

Cognitive defusion is among the main components of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), a contextual behavioral approach to psychotherapy. Defusion serves as a middle-level term, and, as such, may be useful for applying and disseminating behavior science, despite its lower precision. However, some authors argue that for middle-level terms in psychotherapy to be useful to clinicians, they need to be clearly linked to basic behavioral concepts, with higher precision; and that this is not currently the case with defusion. Our objective is to increase the pragmatic utility of the concept of "cognitive defusion" by providing a more nuanced, multifaceted and process-based definition of the term. In order to do this, we surveyed the ACT literature regarding defusion and critically examined it through the lens of conceptual analysis. This culminated in a revised and updated conceptualization of defusion in terms of its relationship to basic behavioral concepts, in which defusion is an outcome that may be achieved through different processes.

A single-case quasi-experimental design of functional analytic psychotherapy for substance abuse / Um delineamento quase-experimental de caso único da psicoterapia analítica funcional para abuso de substâncias / Un diseño de caso único cuasi experimental de psicoterapia analítica funcional para abuso de sustancias

This study evaluated the effectiveness of Functional Analytic Psychotherapy (FAP) on clinically relevant behaviors (CRBs) in the context of substance abuse/chemical de pendence and identifying the therapeutic components of change. The Functional Analytic Psychotherapy Rating Scale (FAPRS) was used to categorize therapist and client behaviors, and Timeline Followback was used to record drug abuse. Two participants were treated in a single case A/A + B quasi-experimental design, in which A = analytical-behavioral therapy and A + B = FAP. The results showed that with the introduction of FAP, specifically the therapist's contingent responding to the participant's progress, there was a decrease in the use of substances after three months for both participants. The participant who spent more time in psychotherapy experienced greater benefits at follow-up and a larger reduction in drug use. We concluded that FAP altered CRBs by positively reinforcing progress in-session and was significantly correlated with improvement out-of-session.

O objetivo da pesquisa foi avaliar o efeito da Psicoterapia Analítica Funcional (FAP) sobre os comportamentos clinicamente relevantes (CRBs) e abuso de substâncias de dependentes químicos e identificar os componentes terapêuticos de mudança. Foram utilizados os instrumentos Functional Analytic Psychotherapy Rating Scale para categorização de comportamentos do terapeuta e cliente e Timeline Followback para registrar o abuso de drogas. Dois participantes foram atendidos em um delineamento quase-experimental de caso único A/A+B, onde A = Terapia Analítico-Comportamental e A+B = FAP. Os resultados indicaram que a introdução da FAP, em especial o responder contingente do terapeuta, acompanhou os progressos e houve melhora no consumo de substâncias após 3 meses para ambos. O participante que se manteve mais tempo em psicoterapia obteve maior benefício no follow-up e no consumo de drogas. Concluiu-se que a FAP alterou CRBs reforçando positivamente progressos em sessão e que isto provavelmente se correlacionou com melhoras extrassessão.

El objetivo fue evaluar el efecto de la Psicoterapia Analítica Funcional (FAP) en los comportamientos clínicamente relevantes (clinically relevant behaviors - CRBs) e el abuso de sustancias de dependientes químicos, e identificar los componentes terapéuticos de cambio. Se utilizaron Functional Analytic Psychotherapy Rating Scale, para clasificar los comportamientos del terapeuta y del cliente, y timeline followback, para registrar el abuso. Dos participantes fueron evaluados a través de un diseño cuasiexperimental de caso único A/A + B, donde A = terapia analítico-comportamental y A + B = FAP. Los resultados indicaron que la implementación de la respuesta contingente del terapeuta llevó a cambios en las CRBs y mejorías en el consumo de sustancias en los dos participantes después de tres meses de intervención. El participante que se mantuvo más tiempo en psicoterapia obtuvo mayor beneficio durante el seguimiento. Se concluye que FAP modificó las CRBs a través del reforzamiento positivo en sesión, lo que se relacionó con las mejoras fuera de sesión.