Psychoanalytic psychotherapy represents a small fraction of psychotherapies within the German healthcare system. Additionally, they are often of shorter duration and take place less frequently than recommended by the rules of German psychotherapy guidelines. Apart from research on psychotherapy efficacy via questionnaires, special interest is shown for patients subjective experiences in psychoanalytic contexts. The investigation was carried out to find out how therapists specify the setting in psychoanalytic psychotherapy as well as what patients report about the therapy. Data of completed psychoanalytic psychotherapies of the German Psychoanalytical Society (DPG) practice study (a prospective naturalistic long-term study that examines the effectiveness of psychodynamic psychotherapy) were used. Therapists information (n = 108) was collated via questionnaires and for the patients perspective, free texts from patients (n = 37) were categorized via qualitative content analysis. The long-term therapies examined in the DPG study often used the full contingency of sessions stipulated by the German psychotherapy guidelines. They were often carried out in a classical (couch) setting and at a frequency of 2-3 h per week. Patients often described the therapy as challenging but all in all they seemed satisfied with the treatment. Psychoanalytical psychotherapy is often carried out in accordance with the rules of German psychotherapy guidelines, at least in this study. Patient reports gave an insight which is close to the reality of patient experiences and, therefore, promises to be an interesting research perspective for the future.     «

Psychoanalytic psychotherapy represents a small fraction of psychotherapies within the German healthcare system. Additionally, they are often of shorter duration and take place less frequently than recommended by the rules of German psychotherapy guidelines. Apart from research on psychotherapy efficacy via questionnaires, special interest is shown for patients subjective experiences in psychoanalytic contexts. The investigation was carried out to find out how therapists specify the setting in p...     »