A Qualitative Evaluation of the Effects of Social Cognition and Interaction Training (SCIT) Versus Therapeutic Alliance Focused Therapy (TAFT) Among Persons With Serious Mental Illness

Growing appreciation of the impact of social cognition deficits on social functioning among people with serious mental illness (SMI) has led to the development of interventions that target them. The purpose of the present study was to conduct a qualitative analysis of the effectiveness of two group interventions, social cognition and interaction therapy (SCIT) and therapeutic alliance focused therapy (TAFT), and to explore the processes and factors that contribute to the SCIT and TAFT outcomes. Thirty-two participants (16 participants from each group) were interviewed after completing the interventions. Content analysis based on grounded theory was conducted by two psychologists. The majority of participants experienced the intervention they completed as beneficial. The completers attributed the positive changes to several factors including professional information, therapeutic alliance, and their own agency. Comparison of the two groups revealed that SCIT completers were more likely to report changes in their experience of self and in their daily coping, while TAFT completers were more likely to report changes in the way they felt. Although not the majority, five completers from each group reported a positive change in their interpersonal relationships. Integrative and flexible approaches to psychotherapy, which combine common factors and elicit health including actions, are important in order to improve social cognition deficits among people with SMI.