Table 2.

Characteristics of included studies in this review

Study	Patients	Diagnosis	Therapists	Therapy approach	Instruments verbal activity	Outcome/alliance measures	Results	Quality assessment score
Cunha et al., 2012	Six patients	Depression	Five therapists	Emotion‐focused therapy (EFT)	Helping skills system (HSS; Hill, 2009)	BDI	Positive effects: exploration skills (approval/reassurance, closed and open questions, restatement and reflection of feelings). Negative effects: insight skills (challenge, interpretation, self‐disclosure, and immediacy)	1
Dahl et al., 2017	Two patients	Personality disorder	One therapist	Dynamic psychotherapy	Structural analysis of social behavior‐work (SASB‐work; Benjamin, 1996)	SSCID‐II; SCL‐90	Positive effects: protecting utterances. Negative effects: therapist exercises a lot of control	0.82
Golden & Robbins, 1990	Two patients	Panic and adjustment disorder	One therapist	Time‐limited psychodynamic therapy	Vanderbilt Psychotherapy Process Scale (VPPS; Strupp, Hartley, & Blackwood, 1974)	WAI	No significant differences: high therapist exploration in low‐ and high‐alliance phases	0.68
Hayes & Strauss, 1998	30 patients	Depression	Four therapists	Cognitive therapy (CT)	Rating Scale of Therapy Change Process (TCP; Hayes et al., 1996)	Average score of BDI and HRSD; GAS	Positive effects: support and stabilizing strategies and focus on the historical antecedents of current problems	1
Hayes et al., 1996	30 patients	Depression	Four therapists	Cognitive therapy (CT)	Coding system of therapeutic focus (CSFT; Goldfried, Newman, & Hayes, 1989)	Average score of BDI and HRSD; GAS	Positive effects: focus of the therapist on direct interpersonal change and exploration of frequent patients' experiences with their parents. Negative effects: cognitive changes in the interpersonal context and positive effects: open questions and paraphrasing	1
Hill et al., 1988	Eight patients	Dysthymic, generalized‐anxiety disorder and cyclothymic	Eight therapists	Psychoanalytic treatment	Hill counselor verbal reponse modes category system (Hill, 1986); Therapist intentions list (Hill & O'Grady, 1985)	SCL‐90‐R		0.95
Jones et al., 1988	40 patients	Posttraumatic stress disorder or adjustment disorder	21 therapists	Brief dynamic psychotherapy	Psychotherapy Process Q‐Sort	BSI; BPRS	Positive effects: directive, supportive, partly psychoeducative elements, and focus on the therapeutic relationship in connection with other relationships	0.95
Lichtenberg et al., 1998	Seven patients	Depression or anxiety	seven therapists	Time‐limited therapy	Taxonomy of verbal response modes (Stiles, 1987)	WAI; SCL‐90‐R	No significant correlations with therapeutic alliance	0.95
Waldron et al., 2013	Two patients +11 patients	Personality disorder	Two therapists	Psychoanalysis	Dynamic Interaction Scale (DIS); Analytic Process Scales: “core analytic activities” (APS; Waldron et al, 2004)	PHI; RADIO‐Scales of the SWAP; GAF	Positive effects: clarifying, interpreting, and addressing defences present in the session and addressing intrapsychic conflicts	0.77
Watson & McMullen, 2005	24 patients	Depression	12 therapists	process experiental therapy (PET) and cognitive‐behavioural therapy (CBT)	Therapist Behavior Code‐Revised (TBC‐R; Bischoff & Tracey, 1995)	WAI	Low alliance sessions: therapist more supportive	1

Abbreviations: BDI, Beck Depression Inventory; BSI, Brief Symptom Inventory; BPRS, Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale; GAF, Global Assessment of Functioning Scales; GAS, Goal Attainment Scaling; HRSD, Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression; PHI, Personality Health Index; SCL‐90, Symptom Checklist‐90; SCL‐90‐R, Symptom Checklist‐90‐Revised; SSCID‐II, Structured Clinical Interview for DSM‐IV; SWAP, Shedler‐Westen Assessment Procedure; WAI, Working Alliance Inventory.