Emotional Processing & Psychological Disorders
Research programme
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Emotional
processing & |
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Emotional
processing & |
'If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?'
Albert Einstein
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below to link to:
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People referred by their medical
practitioner to the local NHS Adult Mental Health teams in
Dorset, England were posted a questionnaire booklet along with their
appointment letter
to see a
clinical psychologist or counsellor. The booklet
contains an information sheet, the Emotional Processing Scale (EPS), the Brief Symptom Inventory ((BSI)
Derogatis & Melisaratos, 1983)
the twenty-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20 Bagby, Taylor &
Parker, 1993), and demographic questions. An information sheet explains to
participants issues such as confidentiality, purpose, and the voluntary
nature of the study. Participants are asked to complete the booklet
and return it using the pre-paid envelope provided. As questionnaires are
returned, a standardised form based on DSM III is sent to the
psychologist/counsellor involved, for a diagnosis for each patient. Upon
finishing therapy, people are contacted and asked to complete the same
questionnaire booklet.
Specific
questions asked in the research
1.
Are there differences between diagnostic groups in the way that
they process their emotions?
It
is anticipated that if different patterns are found then this may prove
useful to practitioners in terms of providing them with a general
understanding of the disorder and direction for psychological therapy
and/or counselling.
2.
Does the EPS successfully measure the effectiveness of therapy
(sensitivity to change) compared to other existing standardised measures
of psychiatric functioning and emotional measures.
Here,
we want to discover which emotional dimensions improve during therapy.
This pre and post assessment method will also help therapists to
assess their work and audit their service.
3.
Do the emotional processing scores provide useful information to
counsellors/psychologists?
The
EPS is given to clients at the start of counselling/psychological therapy.
This provides therapists with information regarding the emotional
processing strengths and weaknesses of individual clients.
We intend to interview therapists to discover whether this
information is useful and if so how it influences the therapeutic process.
We also wish to determine if it improves therapists'
conceptualisation of their clients problems.
4.
How does the emotional
processing scale relate to psychiatric functioning and other measures of
emotion?
We want to discover if emotional processing is simply the same thing as
symptoms of psychological disorders, or is actually an independent
dimension. We also want to know if emotional processing patterns in groups
are independent of both the frequency and intensity of emotions. If
emotional processing is really being measured then we expect a close but
not identical relationship with other measures of emotion.
5.
Can we improve and adjust the EPS?
The EPS is being continually improved and adjusted in the light of feedback from the data that is being collected. For example, statistically poor items on the scale are removed and other fresh items are added. Work with psychometric methods, clinically derived experience, and the research literature in this area all have an influence on the overall structure of the EPS.
Dorset
RDSU
Cornelia House Poole Hospital NHS Trust Longfleet Road Poole
Dorset BH15 2JB
Email
dawn.stevens@poole.nhs.uk
