Reflective and High Functioning in preliminary assessment

Abstract

Objectives: In this work we tried to infer some important information in psychotherapeutic process from different measures. The primary aim was to obtain a better assessment of strengths and weaknesses of two patients during the first evaluation sessions and generally in psychotherapy. Methods: We used two main measures, the Adult Attachment Interview and the SWAP-200. The first assessed adult mental representations regarding relationships, while the latter assessed personality disorders and traits. We also measured reflective functioning through the Reflective Functioning scale applied on the AAI. As for the SWAP-200, the Personality Health Index and the RADIO were calculated. Results: We tried to explain in descriptive terms some unusual results from the measurements, comparing the data. Discordances in the different levels of reflective functioning of the two patients were explicated through the in-depth analysis of the SWAP indices, showing different ways to deal with personal and relational difficulties. Conclusions: Comparing two different patients that share similar scores in the assessment can be confusing. In order to better envision strengths and weaknesses of the patients it is sometimes necessary to go in depth of the different indices. Also, we tried to stress some of these results in order to better orient the therapeutic program.