Innovative moments in recovered cases treated with the unified protocol for transdiagnostic treatment of emotional disorders

Objective Innovative moments (IMs) are moments in which the previous problematic pattern of meaning is challenged. Studies have shown that IMs are associated with good psychotherapy outcomes. A three-level hierarchy of IMs was observed in recent studies, with level 1 IMs being more elementary and levels 2 and 3 being more complex and associated with treatment success. However, studies with manualized protocol treatments are thus far lacking. This study analyzed the longitudinal progression of IMs in the Unified Protocol for Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders (UP) and explored its associations with changes in psychological distress. Methods Data were collected from a Portuguese university-based outpatient clinic and included 18 cases with positive outcomes. Nine sessions of each case were coded with the IM coding system (N=162). Results Multilevel analyses showed a significant increase in all IM levels across treatments. The decrease in psychological distress predicted an increase in level 2 IMs in the same session. Conclusion The evolution of IMs is similar to what was found previously in other studies. Contrary to what was found in previous studies, IMs did not predict outcomes in the following session, whereas the reduction in psychological distress predicted the emergence of level 2 IMs.
This work was supported by Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia: [Grant Number UID/PSI/01662/2019].
This study was conducted at the Psychology Research Centre (PSI/01662), School of Psychology, University of Minho, and supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology and
the Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education (UID/PSI/01662/2019), through national funds (PIDDAC). Dr. Batista, Dr. Braga and Dr. Oliveira were also supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technol ogy and the Portuguese Ministry of Science, Tech nology and Higher Education, through national funds, within the scope of the Transitory Disposition of Decree No. 57/2016, of 29 August, amended by Law No. 57/2017 of 19 July.