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REVIEW OF PSYCHODYNAMIC AND COGNITIVE THERAPY

Review of the Effectiveness of Psychodynamic Therapy and Cognitive Behavior Therapy in the

Treatment of Personality Disorders

Caleb M. Woolston, Justice Morath

Salt Lake Community College

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REVIEW OF PSYCHODYNAMIC AND COGNITIVE THERAPY

In the name of comparison, the article The Effectiveness of Psychodynamic Therapy and

Cognitive Behavior Therapy in the Treatment of Personality Disorders uses a large amount of

tables and findings to compare psychodynamic and cognitive behavior therapys effect against

personality disorders. The authors saw a lack of studies showing if psychotherapy can be

effective in treating personality disorders (1223) and began researching how the two therapies

have been used to fight personality disorders. The questions they asked (1223) are used as their

hypothesis: to show that two different types of therapy are effective means of treating personality

disorders.

Results:

Leibing and Leichsenrings finding are holistic and varied, but there is a clear, positive

correlation showing that both therapies are an effective way to treat personality disorders (1229).

They also showed that a positive correlation exists between the amount of time spent in therapy

and the recovery rate (1230) and that there is a positive correlation between psychodynamic

therapy length of treatment and dropout rates, which was an insignificant number in cognitive

behavior therapy (1230), which can be likely due to psychodynamic therapy being a much longer

process compared to cognitive behavior therapy, though there were no findings in the article

supporting this claim.

Discussion:

Recovery rates contrasted between the two therapies, while minimal, suggest the

lengthier psychodynamic therapy is a more effective treatment for personality disorders, with

psychodynamic therapy having a recovery rate of 59% to cognitive behavior therapys 47%

(1228), where recovery is defined as a patient no longer exhibiting the symptoms of a personality
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REVIEW OF PSYCHODYNAMIC AND COGNITIVE THERAPY

disorder according to the DSM-IV (the available DSM version at the time of the article, 1231).

While Leibing and Leichsenrings research indicates both therapies are effective at treating

personality disorders, the very small amount of people used in the experiment indicate that their

experiment cannot be used to generalize one therapys efficiency over another. Both CBT and

psychodynamic therapy are shown, through the article, to be effective in the fight against

personality disorder.
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REVIEW OF PSYCHODYNAMIC AND COGNITIVE THERAPY

References

Leichsenring, F and Leibing, E (2003). The effectiveness of psychodynamic therapy and

cognitive behavior therapy in the treatment of personality disorders: A meta-analysis. The

American Journal of Psychiatry 160(7), 1223-1232.