An Analogue Study of the Mechanism of Change in Functional Analytic Psychotherapy

Abstract

The study attempted to isolate the mechanism of change of Functional Analytic Psychotherapy (FAP) using non-clinical participants engaged in stable, cohabitating romantic relationships. Employing an analogue, concurrent, multiple-baseline A/A+B design, the A phase controlled for attendance, self-monitoring, instructions for increased engagement in interpersonal behaviors, and ongoing review of interpersonal behaviors. The A+B phase added a manualized FAP interaction emphasizing therapist contingent responding to in-vivo target behaviors. In addition, daily couple interactions were tracked using the Weeks Interpersonal Interaction Inventory (WIII). Targeted behaviors appeared to increase after introducing the manualized FAP interaction. Limitations and future considerations were also discussed.