Journal of Psychotherapy Integration, Vol 33(3), Sep 2023, 248-264; doi:10.1037/int0000296
In order to understand the process of emotional transformation in psychotherapy, the development of objective measures of patient emotional processing that capture clinically important aspects of the patient affective state is crucial. The Transformational Process Scale (TPS) is an observer-based measure of patient emotional processing based on the phenomenology of transformation in Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy (AEDP) that captures the process of emotional change in four sequential phases of distinct affective experiences. TPS categorizes 1-min segments of therapy sessions into one of the four states and also notes the intensity of the emotion experienced on a 5-point Likert scale. One of its unique features is that it categorizes different classes of positive emotions. This paper details the TPS and its empirical utility. First, the theoretical background of the scale is described. Second, an initial validation study is presented. Third, the scale is illustrated with clinical vignettes representing each state of TPS. As an initial validation of the TPS scale, a subset of sessions was scored by two raters. A satisfactory level of interrater reliability at the level of the four major affective categories and their intensity was demonstrated. The TPS ratings showed that productive first sessions involved higher frequency and intensity of classes of positive emotions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)