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The studied phenomenon
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What is the studied phenomenon or ‘conceptual type’ (e.g, clinical condition, therapeutic technique, patient's symptoms)? There is generally one specific phenomenon.
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Is the studied phenomenon sufficiently distinguished from other kinds of (potentially similar) phenomena?
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Patient data
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Are patient characteristics relevant to the wider clinical population? (e.g. is there a good match between symptoms and experiences?)
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What is the rationale for choosing this patient?
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Does the patient present any unique or deviant characteristics? (e.g. symptoms that are not representative of the studied clinical condition)
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The clinical discourse
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Is there a detailed clinical narrative in the form of therapist reflections and observations?
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Does the case move from the particularity of the patient to a more general(theoretically abstract) claim about the studied phenomenon?
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Research
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Case purpose
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Does the case demonstrate the typical characteristics of the studied phenomenon?
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Does the case provide findings relevant for the broader clinical population?
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Can the case contribute to psychotherapy theory?
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2 Descriptive cases (purpose: particularity)
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The studied phenomenon
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What phenomena are studied in the case (e.g. clinical condition, therapeutic technique, patient's symptoms)? There can be multiple phenomena.
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Does the case present events and processes common to clinical practice? (e.g. therapeutic relationship difficulties)
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Patient data
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Are patient characteristics described in detail, with particular attention to uniqueness, subjectivity and meaning of “lived experiences”?
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Does the case narrative convey interpersonally sharable statements, ruminations, metaphors?
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Is the patient clearly positioned within their cultural and psycho-social context?
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The clinical discourse
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Does the case convey the process behind therapist's practical decisions in the consulting room?
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Does the case provide ‘know-how’ knowledge on how practitioners can deal with clinically salient issues and situations?
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Does the therapist provide a reflexive account on how their views and theoretical assumptions might impact the therapeutic relationship and clinical decision-making?
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Research
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Case purpose |
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Does the case provide a relational understanding (with which readers can empathise) of the studied phenomenon?
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Does the case narrative sufficiently portray ‘real analytic practice’ rather than ‘ideal models’? (e.g. by demonstrating disparity between clinical theory/research and practice)
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Can the case contribute to psychotherapy training and practice?
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3 Unique cases (purpose: deviation)
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The studied phenomenon
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What phenomena are studied in the case (e.g. clinical condition, therapeutic technique, patient's symptoms)? There can be multiple phenomena.
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Does the case explain how the studied phenomena are different or unique from the established theory/research? (e.g. the patient's experience of transference is different from the experiences of transference across a broader clinical population)
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Patient data
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Are patient characteristics described in detail, with particular attention to uniqueness, subjectivity and meaning of “lived experiences”?
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What is the rationale for choosing this patient?
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The clinical discourse
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Does the case convey a detailed description of therapeutic interventions and their effectiveness?
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Does the therapist provide a reflexive account on how their views and theoretical assumptions might impact clinical decision-making, particularly in terms of their understanding of the uniqueness/deviation in the case?
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Does the case include sufficient considerations as to the cause of the deviation/uniqueness in patient's clinical condition or symptoms?
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Research
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Does the case convey more than one theoretical and/or research perspective? (e.g. clinical assessment by multiple practitioners or data analysis by multiple researchers)
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Are there considerations of alternative explanations to the observed deviation/uniqueness of the case? (e.g. by referring to other published case studies or research)
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Case purpose
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Does the case provide insight into a novel phenomenon? (e.g. by describing unique patient symptoms or experiences)
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Does the case provide novel theoretical knowledge in relation to unique/deviant phenomenon? (E.g., by developing a new therapeutic technique)
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Can the case contribute to psychotherapy theory, training and/or practice?
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4 Critical cases (purpose: falsification/confirmation) |
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The studied phenomenon
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What is the studied phenomenon in the case (e.g. clinical condition, therapeutic technique, patient's symptoms)? There is generally one specific phenomenon.
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Does the case seek to test an existing theory/research about the studied phenomenon? (e.g. testing the effectiveness of a well-established therapeutic intervention)
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Patient data
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Are patient characteristics described in detail?
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Is the patient clearly outlined within their cultural and psycho-social context?
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What is the rationale for choosing this patient?
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The clinical discourse
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Research
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Does the case convey more than one theoreticaland/or research perspective? (e.g. clinical assessment by multiple practitioners or data analysis by multiple researchers)
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Does the case show how the theory/research that is being tested accounts for the clinical observations in the case?
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Does the case provide a sufficient explanation on why their chosen theory/research is more appropriate than another?
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If the case falsifies an existing theory/research, are there sufficient sample considerations? (e.g. the case may be unique and therefore the original theory/research still stands)
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Case purpose
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Does the case examine an existing theory/research successfully? (e.g. by showing whether a theory is effective with a specific patient)
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If the case falsifies an existing theory/research, does it offer any novel suggestions or revisions to the falsified theory/research?
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If the case confirms an existing theory/research, does it rule out alternative explanations for the tested hypothesis? (e.g. to show that a therapeutic intervention is effective, the positive effects of other variables like medication may need to be ruled out)
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5 Exploratory cases (purpose: hypothesis generation)
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The studied phenomenon
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What phenomena are studied in the case (e.g. clinical condition, therapeutic technique, patient's symptoms)? There can be multiple phenomena.
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Is the case discovery-led, in the sense that it explores data as it emerges?
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Patient data
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The clinical discourse
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Does the case link therapist narrative and observations with the theoretical/research considerations?
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Does the case narrative explore the ‘how’ and ‘what’ questions in relation to patient experiences and treatment processes?
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Does the case identify complex processes and mechanisms in the treatment and link them to theory?
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Research
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Is there a sufficient review of literature of the studied phenomenon?
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Does the case convey more than one theoretical and/or research perspective? (e.g. clinical assessment by multiple practitioners or data analysis by multiple researchers)
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Does the data converge? Are different/conflicting findings reported?
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Case purpose
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Does the case convey more than one set of outcomes?
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Does the case indicate future research trajectories?
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Can the case contribute to psychotherapy theory, training and/or practice?
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6 Transferable cases (purpose: generalisability)
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The studied phenomenon
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What is studied phenomenon (e.g. clinical condition, therapeutic technique, patient's symptoms)? There is generally one specific phenomenon.
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Is the studied phenomenon explicitly defined and differentiated from other kinds of (potentially similar) phenomena?
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Patient data
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Are patient characteristics described in detail?
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Is the patient clearly outlined within their cultural and psycho-social context?
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Does the patient present characteristics typical of the studied phenomenon? Is there sufficient information (clinical, theoretical) to link the patient with the studied phenomenon?
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The clinical discourse
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Is there a detailed clinical narrative in the form of therapist reflections and observations?
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Does the case shed light on specific characteristics of the therapeutic process? (e.g. the development of therapeutic alliance)
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Is the case narrative theme-focused? (e.g. the case identifies specific treatment patterns across different sessions)
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Is there a clear description of the therapeutic process, usually involving a session-by-session description?
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Research
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Is there a sufficient review of literature on the studied phenomenon?
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Does the case involve a specific therapeutic, theoretical and research framework, and is the framework made explicit by the researchers?
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Is there a clear description of the research process? (e.g. step-by-step description of data analysis procedures)
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Case purpose
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Does the case provide information about common or specific psychotherapy processes?
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Can the case be compared to and aggregated with other psychotherapy case studies on the basis of its studied phenomenon and formulation?
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