ISTDP is a Functional Analytic Psychotherapy (Part 2 of 3): A Relational Frame Theory Analysis

Over thirty years ago, Malan (1995) argued that dynamic psychotherapy and behavior therapy are each incomplete without the other. A previous paper took a first step toward this integration, establishing that Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP) procedurally fulfills the criteria of Functional Analytic Psychotherapy (FAP) at the level of operant conditioning. However, that analysis identified phenomena—particularly the Unconscious Therapeutic Alliance (UTA), unlocking of the unconscious, and the persistence of entrenched defenses—that challenge purely operant explanations. The present paper extends the analysis one level deeper, arguing that ISTDP’s characteristic processes can be understood through Törneke et al.’s Relational Frame Theory (RFT)-based model of psychological (in)flexibility. Using the same analytical strategy—identifying a generalized functional analytic system and showing ISTDP fits it—the paper argues that ISTDP’s intervention spectrum constitutes progressively intensifying hierarchical framing; that defenses represent identity fusion through coordination framing; that transference is coordination framing generalized across deictic contexts; that the UTA spectrum reflects graduated hierarchical framing; that affect integration involves the collision and transformation of relational networks, producing durable selfing transformation; and that the therapeutic relationship functions as a privileged deictic arena requiring Cfunc-level activation for deep change. The integration is bidirectional: ISTDP gains theoretical precision and testable hypotheses, while RFT-based clinical frameworks gain access to ISTDP’s systematic techniques and its specification of the conditions under which deep change occurs. The analysis points toward a third paper addressing phenomena beyond current RFT’s explanatory reach.