References

Our most recent IBT publication

(IBT) Interactive-Behavioral Therapy- Research

If you work with people with developmental disabilities, chronic psychiatric diagnoses, or a dual diagnosis you may be interested in learning more about IBT, the Interactive Behavioral Therapy model of group therapy

History of research with IBT

Because of the long history of failure to provide psychotherapy to people who have developmental disabilities, research in this area is still new. There is, however, a growing body of literature demonstrating the effectiveness of group psychotherapy with this population.
The Interactive-Behavioral Therapy (IBT) model has been investigated in recent studies with some promising results. Blaine (1993) tested the efficacy of an IBT group treating both developmentally disabled and non-disabled participants over 17 sessions. Using a number of measures, she concluded that both types of patients showed significant positive change from the therapy, and interestingly, those subjects with developmental disabilities demonstrated higher frequencies of most therapeutic factors. In addition, each patient set goals for himself, and then evaluated himself with regard to how successful he felt he had been by the end of the series of sessions. The final evaluations showed that the patients achievements of their interpersonal goals in therapy exceeded their expectations.
Keller (1993) studied the emergence of therapeutic factors in a twelve-week IBT group with dually diagnosed (developmentally disabled and mentally ill) participants. (The emergence of therapeutic factors is frequently studied because it is considered a robust measure of the therapeutic value of a group.) Keller had professional therapists review videotapes of group sessions, and asked them to rate the tapes for the presence of various therapeutic factors. The therapists were blind to the nature of the study, and to whether they were watching early or late-stage groups. The emergence of seven out of eight targeted therapeutic factors was reliably documented by the observers, suggesting that the therapeutic process does indeed evolve with participants who have developmental disabilities.

Daniels (1998) tested the IBT model with a group of low-functioning, chronically mentally ill adults who carried diagnoses of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. Multiple clinical rating scales were administered to measure changes in social functioning and negative symptomatology. Three hypotheses were tested, and each was supported by the ensuing data. Specifically, it was found that: 1) IBT increases the overall social competence of people with chronic schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorders; 2) IBT improves the negative symptoms that are often associated with poor treatment outcome for people diagnosed with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorders; and 3) IBT facilitates the emergence of those therapeutic factors found to enhance social competence in people with chronic schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorders.
The IBT model was also studied by Carlin (1998), who explored its value in helping individuals with developmental disabilities cope with bereavement. She found that all group members showed evidence of being able to engage in the bereavement process through three therapeutic factors specific to the grieving process.
The IBT model has been written about extensively in Mental Health Aspects of Developmental Disabilities (Razza & Tomasulo, 1996, a, b, & c; Tomasulo, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998), as well as in edited volumes on developmental disabilities (Jacobson & Mulick, 1996; Wiener, 1999; Fletcher, 2000). It is the subject of Action Methods in Group Psychotherapy (Tomasulo, 1998), and has been taught to thousands of human service and mental health personnel via direct trainings and videotaped instruction (Tomasulo, 1990). It has also been recommended as a valuable means of treating developmentally disabled adults at risk for suicide (Kirchner & Mueth, 2000). Click here for a direct link to the complete text of the Daniels (1998) article.