Does assimilation of problematic experiences predict a decrease in symptom intensity?

Abstract

The assimilation model describes therapeutic change as an integration of experiences that had previously been problematic, distressing, avoided, or warded off. This study assessed whether assimilation was associated with treatment outcome in a sample of psychotherapeutic treatments for depression. Further, it assessed the direction of the association-whether increasing assimilation predicted decreases in symptom intensity or decreasing symptom intensity predicted increases in assimilation.