Volume 23, Issue 4 (3-2026)
RBS 2026, 23(4): 686-715 |
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Khaleghi M, Bakhshipour Roudsari A. Foundations and Applications of the Process-Based Approach in Intervention and Research: Toward a Paradigm Shift. RBS 2026; 23 (4) :686-715
URL: http://rbs.mui.ac.ir/article-1-2037-en.html
URL: http://rbs.mui.ac.ir/article-1-2037-en.html
1- Department of Psychology, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran , mohammad.khaleghi66@gmail.com
2- Department of Psychology, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran
2- Department of Psychology, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran
Abstract: (293 Views)
Aim and Background: For the past few decades, the medical model grounded in positivism has dominated the field of psychotherapy research and evidence-based interventions. Despite certain advancements, research findings indicate that the overall effectiveness of psychotherapy has either declined or plateaued in recent decades, highlighting the urgent need to reconsider its theoretical and methodological foundations.
Methods and Materials: This study was a narrative review and conceptual analysis of the theoretical foundations and applications of the process-based approach.
Findings: The process-based approach has emerged as a novel paradigm that moves away from syndrome-based diagnoses and static treatment protocols. Rather than fidelity to theoretical schools, this approach focuses on identifying and targeting core psychological processes of change, and it seeks systematic integration through the Extended Evolutionary Meta-Model (EEMM). Utilizing idiographic case formulations, network analysis, multilevel data, and an idionomic analytical framework, this approach examines and applies the dynamic interplay of biopsychosocial processes.
Conclusions: By providing a shared conceptual language, analytical structure and principles of change, process-based approach facilitates interdisciplinary collaboration and offers the potential to shift from rigid protocols to dynamic, personalized interventions. This article introduced the foundations of the process-based approach as well as some of its related challenges, and highlights its potential as a transformative framework for the science of psychological intervention and paradigm shift.
Methods and Materials: This study was a narrative review and conceptual analysis of the theoretical foundations and applications of the process-based approach.
Findings: The process-based approach has emerged as a novel paradigm that moves away from syndrome-based diagnoses and static treatment protocols. Rather than fidelity to theoretical schools, this approach focuses on identifying and targeting core psychological processes of change, and it seeks systematic integration through the Extended Evolutionary Meta-Model (EEMM). Utilizing idiographic case formulations, network analysis, multilevel data, and an idionomic analytical framework, this approach examines and applies the dynamic interplay of biopsychosocial processes.
Conclusions: By providing a shared conceptual language, analytical structure and principles of change, process-based approach facilitates interdisciplinary collaboration and offers the potential to shift from rigid protocols to dynamic, personalized interventions. This article introduced the foundations of the process-based approach as well as some of its related challenges, and highlights its potential as a transformative framework for the science of psychological intervention and paradigm shift.
Keywords: Process-based approach, Process-based therapy, Processes of change, Network approach, Idionomic method, Paradigm shift
Type of Study: case report |
Subject:
Special
Received: 2025/11/11 | Accepted: 2026/02/1 | Published: 2026/03/1
Received: 2025/11/11 | Accepted: 2026/02/1 | Published: 2026/03/1
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