In the Summer 1987 issue of the Newsletter, Samuel Wilson conducted an interview with Joseph Weiss in which the salient features of Weiss and Sampson's control mastery theory of the psychotherapeutic process were described, and the research methods employed by this group were outlined.
During the week of April 21-25, Joseph Weiss, M.D. and Harold Sampson, Ph.D., and the Mount Zion Psychotherapy Research Group presented their work to a group of 24 invited participants. Sam Wilson who was included in the group contributes the following commentary.
At the five-day workshop, held at the San Francisco Psychoanalytic Institute and at the Mount Zion Hospital, Weiss and Sampson served as congenial hosts and mentors for the enthusiastic participants which included psychoanalysts, psychotherapists of various persuasions, and even a small group of “radical behaviorists”, followers of B.F. Skinner. All were united by a deep and lively interest in the empirical investigation of the psychoanalytic/psychotherapeutic process. Important in this regard was the presence of a group from Rutgers University under the leadership of Professor Stanley Messer, Ph.D.. This group, which included five Ph.D. candidates in various stages of training, had come to learn the research methods of the Mount Zion group, so that they could replicate Weiss and Sampson's work, the first attempt at a thoroughgoing replication of this research.
The Mount Zion group has 37 publications to date dealing with various aspects of their project. In the fall of 1986, Guilford Press published “The Psychoanalytic Process” by Weiss, Sampson, et al. This major work represents a culmination of the group's efforts to date.
Each day's workshop began with a plenary session in which all of the group participated. Transcripts of an intake interview with an applicant for short term dynamic psychotherapy were meticulously analyzed according to criteria set forth in control/mastery theory. Essential to this theory is the notion that patients come to treatment with unconscious plans which they hope to carry out with the therapist's or analyst's help. These people are felt to be primarily motivated by the ego's attempt to disconfirm certain pathogenic beliefs adopted by the patient as a means of adapting to his or her particular life situation. These pathogenic beliefs arise from the specific interplay of internal and external forces impinging on the personality. In the treatment situation, the patient attempts to master these grim pathogenic ideas by testing unconsciously the analyst and the analytic or therapeutic situation. If these tests are passed, therapy moves forward, the material deepens, repression is lifted, and the ego is strengthened. If the test is failed, the reverse is true, and a therapeutic impasse ensues.
At the plenary session, the group attempted to formulate the probable unconscious plans of a particular patient. Once accomplished, a logical sequence was followed to discern pathogenic beliefs, and pro-plan and anti-plan responses leading to passed or failed tests. With these formulations in mind, it was possible to follow the verbatim transcripts line by line and test empirically the hypotheses formulated.
The rest of the day was spent in small groups which met with Drs. Weiss and Sampson and other members of the research team. Topics such as the relationship of control/mastery theory to psychoanalytic self psychology, classical theory, behavioral theory, child and adolescent treatment, and depression were pursued.
There was also a heavy emphasis on the understanding of the specific research methods used by the Mount Zion group. The many rating scales and instruments were explained and demonstrated by the research team.
The research group consists of 80 bright, energetic and affable young men and women, many with Ph.D.'s, Doctors of Mental Health, and other advanced degrees. It is also of note that the Mount Zion research group has generated 20 Ph.D. theses thus far.
A particularly interesting product coming out of the Mount Zion group is the voice activated computerized anxiety rating device developed by Tom Kelly which has caught the attention of a significant government agency. Using such a device, it is possible to rate increases or decreases in anxiety following various therapeutic maneuvers involving the interaction between therapist and patient.
An important and noteworthy aspect of this gathering was the relative lack of rancor or stridency in regard to theoretical persuasion. The emphasis on empiricism acted as a uniting and moderating focus and provided an optimistic glance into what must be a significant turn in the history of research and psychoanalysis.