Predictive validity of patient and therapist attachment and introject styles

This study assessed introject and attachment styles of patients and therapists, and the match of these styles in patient/therapist dyads, to determine their relation to various psychotherapy process and outcome measures. The IN-TREX was used to measure introject style (affiliation and autonomy) and the Relationship Scale Questionaire to measure attachment style (secure, fearful, preoccupied, dismissing). Therapists with more affiliative (self-loving) and secure styles achieve better outcome results compared to therapists with less affiliative (self-hating) and insecure styles, further, the greater the difference in introject and attachment styles within the patient/therapist dyad, the better the outcome.