Neidhart E, Löffler-Stastka H. Case studies in psychotherapy training using Austria as an example. World J Clin Cases 2020; 8(13): 2787-2801 [PMID: 32742989 DOI: 10.12998/wjcc.v8.i13.2787]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Henriette Löffler-Stastka, Department of Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy, and Teaching Center – Postgraduate Unit, Medical University of Vienna/General Hospital of Vienna, Waehringer Guertel 18-20, A-1090, Vienna 1090, Austria. henriette.loeffler-stastka@meduniwien.ac.at
Research Domain of This Article
Psychiatry
Article-Type of This Article
Observational Study
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Clin Cases. Jul 6, 2020; 8(13): 2787-2801 Published online Jul 6, 2020. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v8.i13.2787
Case studies in psychotherapy training using Austria as an example
Ela Neidhart, Henriette Löffler-Stastka
Ela Neidhart, Henriette Löffler-Stastka, Department of Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy, and Teaching Center – Postgraduate Unit, Medical University of Vienna/General Hospital of Vienna, Vienna 1090, Austria
Author contributions: Neidhart E was the guarantor and designed the study; Löffler-Stastka H provided critical revision of the article for important intellectual content.
Institutional review board statement: The study was reviewed and approved by the Ethikkommission der Medizinischen Universität Wien.
Informed consent statement: All study participants, or their legal guardian, provided informed written consent prior to study enrollment.
Conflict-of-interest statement: There are no conflicts of interest to report.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement-checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement-checklist of items.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Henriette Löffler-Stastka, Department of Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy, and Teaching Center – Postgraduate Unit, Medical University of Vienna/General Hospital of Vienna, Waehringer Guertel 18-20, A-1090, Vienna 1090, Austria. henriette.loeffler-stastka@meduniwien.ac.at
Received: March 9, 2020 Peer-review started: March 9, 2020 First decision: April 22, 2020 Revised: June 15, 2020 Accepted: July 1, 2020 Article in press: July 1, 2020 Published online: July 6, 2020 Processing time: 119 Days and 17.6 Hours
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background
Single-case, exploratory studies are essential for generating hypotheses and fill research gaps.
Research motivation
A common, broadly accepted and reliable structure for case studies is lacking in practice-oriented psychotherapy research.
Research objectives
The survey explores the current situation of the usage of case assignments.
Research methods
According to grounded theory, inductive and deductive approaches were conducted (focus groups, survey, qualitative content analysis).
Research results
Data reports the usage of case assignments for training issues, rarely for research issues. Therapists’ and researchers’ bias is stated.
Research conclusions
In order to establish valid and objective structures for personalized psychotherapy research, guidance to establish and to attune case-study research is necessary. Existing guidelines have to be implemented with more concerted efforts.
Research perspectives
A deeper understanding of cases in order to detect new research questions, new clinical approaches can be very useful in the field of practice oriented clinical research. Mixed methods research designs including also patient-public involvement, in-depth interviews, interpretative analyses are helpful, a commonly attuned structure and guidance is necessary.
