Artikel: Therapeutic alliance—not therapist competence or group cohesion—contributes to reduction of psychological distress in group‐based mindfulness‐based cognitive therapy for cancer patients
Door annelies_verachtert op Woe, 13/03/2019 - 10:13
Mindfulness‐based cognitive therapy (MBCT) is an innovative evidence‐based
intervention in mental and somatic health care. Gaining knowledge of therapeutic factors
associated with treatment outcome can improve MBCT. This study focused on
predictors of treatment outcome of MBCT for cancer patients and examined whether
group cohesion, therapeutic alliance, and therapist competence predicted reduction of
psychological distress after MBCT for cancer patients. Moreover, it was examined
whether therapist competence facilitated therapeutic alliance or group cohesion.
Multilevel analyses were conducted on a subsample of patients collected in a larger
randomized controlled trial on individual internet‐based versus group‐based MBCT
versus treatment as usual in distressed cancer patients. The current analyses included
the 84 patients who completed group‐based MBCT out of 120 patients who were
randomized to group‐based MBCT. Group cohesion and therapist competence did
not predict reduction in psychological distress, whereas therapeutic alliance did. In
addition, therapist competence did not predict therapeutic alliance but was associated
with reduced group cohesion. Our findings revealed that therapeutic alliance
significantly contributed to reduction of psychological distress in MBCT for cancer
patients. Elaborating the clinical implications of the predictive significance of therapeutic
alliance might be of added value to enhance the potential effect of MBCT.
