=!%0Y$0Z!):!326$7!7#2%27(0%$6($76!):!12($0*(_!(#0%21$6(_!(#0%214!2*&! %0602%7#!90(#)&!!
O0690(_!@>_!@0D2*7M_!5>_!Q0430%(_!8>_!K$<<0960*_!i>_!S00%2%&4*_!L>_!O7<0%7U_!L>_!>!>!>!IJ7#0<0_!H>![+,-P^>! /647#)2*2<4($7!6$*D<0!72606!1B3<$6#0&!$*!;Q;E%2*M0&!j)B%*2<6?!"#0!7)*6(%B7($)*!):!2*!)*<$*0!2%7#$Y0>! '(A?-",-%#@:A&@+*&'(A?-"("$@,)?(O&eG _!-+,E-+->!! Single case studies are quintessential for psychoanalytic theory, research and practice. At this moment, however, the field of single case research deals with a lack of surveyability, which hampers the full exploitation of its potentials. This letter presents a review of clinical and empirical single case studies on psychoanalytically oriented psychotherapies that were published in ISI-ranked journals. Briefer psychoanalytic single cases published in journals contrast with longer, book-format cases both at the level of number and vicissitudes. The number of longer cases is limited to a few dozen, the number of smaller cases runs up to a few thousand (cfr. infra); longer cases often surprise us with an almost timeless impact on theory and training, smaller cases tend to disappear in the mass of psychoanalytic literature without noticeable impact. The clinical richness typical for single case data in combination with their large number nevertheless constitutes a unique resource. As in no other data-base, the totality of smaller cases offers an opportunity to study the therapeutic experiences of large numbers of patients and therapists in their full clinical complexity. As such, systematic accumulation of quantitative and qualitative data across homogeneous sets of cases could be an invaluable supplement to classical process-outcome research. The present state of the field of single case research, however, is characterized by a lack of surveyability and accessibility which hampers every effort to accumulate data across cases. Smaller cases are usually published in journal articles, sometimes as the focus of the article, other times as illustrations in the course of conceptual or technical accounts. Abstracts of these articles frequently lack detailed information about the case. They often only mention that a clinical case is presented, without giving further specification. Even if the case is the focus of the article, authors are often unable to compile all relevant information in the limited format of an article abstract. Consequently, researchers and clinicians that apply standard search procedures in electronic databases are at risk of missing a substantial portion of the single cases relevant to their research questions or clinical issues. Under these conditions, screening of full article texts becomes necessary for selection of a comprehensive set of single cases. This state of affairs makes the search for smaller cases a time- consuming and discouraging enterprise, which is usually neglected or left incomplete. Thus, a fertile field of empirical data is left fallow. This article therefore presents a tool that facilitates access to the field of smaller single cases. We first selected all single cases published in ISI ranked journals that met a set of inclusion/exclusion criteria; subsequently, basic characteristics of patient, therapist, therapy and research method were screened in every case study. A summary of this screening is presented in this paper. Full results of the screening for all cases separately is presented in an online and permanently updated archive, which also contains the single cases themselves (www.singlecasearchive.com). The online overview allows the quick identification of relatively homogenous sets of cases in function of specific research question. G$#.1/.\!
Prof. Mattias Desmet, Department of Psychoanalysis, Ghent Universityhttp://www.psychoanalysis.ugent.be http://www.singlecasearchive.com
PLO
.01230/1.40/5&&'67894/0/571.8/5&&/6648./1.40&
Made with FlippingBook HTML5