Predicting a reduction of avoidance motivation in psychotherapy: Toward the delineation of differential processes of change operating at different phases of treatment

The study investigates patient change processes assumed to facilitate reduction in avoidance motivation. Sixty-one patients treated at an outpatient clinic completed the Inventory of Approach and Avoidance Motivation before and after treatment as well as the Bern Post Session Report-Patient version after each session. Clarification and mastery experiences were found to differentially predict the reduction of avoidance motivation at the end of therapy. Clarification experiences predicted this reduction early in treatment, whereas mastery experiences were predictive in the late phase of treatment. Findings are discussed with respect to their theoretical and clinical implications.