Therapeutic Cycles and Referential Activity in the Analysis of the Therapeutic Process

Abstract

The present study was designed to show the usefulness of a process analysis based on a joint use of two computerized methods – Mergenthaler’s Therapeutic Cycle Model (TCM) and Bucci’s Italian Weighted Referential Activity Dictionary (IWRAD). This analysis focused on the transcripts of six sessions from the first eight months of a three-year, face-to-face psychodynamic psychotherapy. Both qualitative and quantita-tive analyses were conducted. Results showed the presence of specific indicators of a good outcome, according to the two approaches, such as the patient’s ability to link re-flective processes and felt emotions, the occurrence of referential cycles, and the pres-ence of organized and coherent narratives.