Weekly therapist ratings of the therapeutic relationship and patient introject during the course of dialectical behavioral therapy for the treatment of borderline personality disorder.

The purpose of the present study was to examine theory-driven hypotheses of the therapeutic relationship and patient introject in dialectical behavior therapy (DBT; Linehan, 1993) for the treatment of borderline personality disorder. A total of 14 DBT therapists provided weekly ratings of the therapeutic relationship and patient introject (N = 41) during the course of a randomized controlled trial of DBT for the treatment of borderline personality disorder. Using hierarchical linear modeling (Raudenbush & Bryk, 2002), we tested four hypotheses of the therapeutic relationship as predicted by DBT and behavioral theory. Results supported three of our four predicted hypotheses of the therapeutic relationship, including the effective use of balancing autonomy and control in the therapeutic relationship, the importance of therapists' maintaining a nonpejorative stance toward the patient, and the use of therapist warmth and autonomy as a contingency for improved intrapsychic outcome. Results did not support a modeling hypothesis of the therapeutic relationship. The study supported a DBT and behavioral model of the therapeutic relationship from the perspective of the treating clinician.