Implicative Dilemmas and Symptomatology Measures: A Practice-Based Evidence Study of Existential Therapy

Abstract

This study examined change in frequency and content of implicative dilemmas before and after a course of short-term existential therapy. 57 adult patients presenting mild to moderate level of depression or anxiety were treated in a naturalistic setting. Repertory grid technique was applied to assess their construing system before and after the intervention. Quantitative and qualitative analyses were applied to explore change in implicative dilemmas and in depressive or anxious symptomatology. Results show a clear reduction in symptomatology levels and a non-significant reduction in the prevalence of implicative dilemmas although the latter was not associated with changes in symptomatology.

Acknowledgment

We thank Francesca Venturi for her contribution in the data collection, and Guillem Feixas and David Winter for their precious methodological and theoretical suggestions.