823 research outputs found
The Therapeutic Bond Scales: Psychometric Characteristics and Relationship to Treatment Effectiveness
The Therapeutic Bond Scales assess the quality of the therapeutic relationship from the patient\u27s perspective. The therapeutic bond is composed of 3 aspects: working alliance, empathic resonance, and mutual affirmation. Scales were developed to measure these aspects and the therapeutic bond as a whole. The correlations between these scales and 2 measures of outcome (session quality assessed by the patient and termination outcome evaluated by nonparticipant raters) were examined. All scales were significantly correlated with session quality. Therapeutic bond was significantly correlated with termination outcome in both a linear and a curvilinear fashion, suggesting that, at least in the initial phase of therapy, the therapeutic bond can be too high as well as too low
The personal self of psychotherapists : Dimensions, correlates, and relations with clients
ObjectiveThe personal self of psychotherapists, that is, experiences of self in close personal relationships and its association with therapists' individual and professional attributes is explored. The study aimed to: (a) describe therapists' self-ratings on specific self-attributes; (b) determine their dimensionality; (c) explore demographic, psychological, and professional correlates; and (d) assess the convergence with professional self. MethodData from the Development of Psychotherapists Common Core Questionnaire were available for>10,000 psychotherapists of various professions, theoretical orientations, career levels, and nations. ResultsMost psychotherapists described themselves in close relationships in affirming terms (e.g., warm/friendly), although a substantial minority also described themselves in negative terms. Factor analyses yielded four dimensions: Genial/Caring, Forceful/Exacting, Reclusive/Remote, and Ardent/Expressive. Being Genial/Caring was associated with life satisfaction. Among professional attributes, personal self-experiences, and parallel dimensions of relationship with clients correlated strongly. ConclusionsAnalyses of>10,000 psychotherapists revealed meaningful variations in personal self relevant to personal and professional life.Peer reviewe
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Exploring influences of supervision on psychotherapistsâ professional development: Correlates across career-level cohorts
This exploratory study aims to extend and strengthen the empirical case for supervision as a facilitator of professional growth, as outlined in an established conceptual model, by exploring its correlates among psychotherapists across their entire professional career. Ratings of the impact of supervision by 6267 psychotherapists of different professions, theoretical orientations, and career levels in many countries who were currently in supervision were correlated, separately for each of five career cohorts, with aspects of their treatment experience, work situation, and personal characteristics. Large percentages of psychotherapists at all career levels, including senior psychotherapists, engaged in supervision and rated its impact on their development positively. Growth-facilitating supervision was associated broadly but moderately in all career cohorts mainly with interpersonal aspects of therapistsâ treatment experience, with supportive work settings, and with caring and expressive personal characteristics. Some differential findings among cohorts also reflected potential developmentally based functions of supervision. The implications of results were considered both for supervisory practice, training and for future supervision research
Paul E. Kahle y Federico PĂ©rez Castro: los orĂgenes de la Escuela de CrĂtica Textual BĂblica de Madrid
We have frequently been asked about the origins of the Madrid School of Biblical Text Criticism. We have limited the content of this paper to Masoretic studies. Research into the files of the former Instituto Arias Montano of the CSIC disclosed a series of unedited letters between Professors Kahle and PĂ©rez Castro; a paper by F. PĂ©rez Castro and F. Cantera Burgos on âProf. Paul E. Kahle y los estudios de crĂtica textual bĂblica en España,â and a description by F. PĂ©rez Castro of the first project to edit the Cairo Codex of the Prophets. Through these materials we can trace the main steps of the relationship between these two relevant scholars and the role that such a relationship played in the origin and late development of these studies in Madrid.A menudo se nos ha preguntado por los orĂgenes de la escuela de crĂtica textual bĂblica de Madrid. Hemos limitado el contenido de este artĂculo a los estudios masorĂ©ticos. Investigando en los archivos del antiguo Instituto Arias Montano del CSIC hemos encontrado una colecciĂłn de cartas inĂ©ditas entre los Profesores Kahle y PĂ©rez Castro; un artĂculo escrito por F. PĂ©rez Castro y F. Cantera Burgos titulado «Prof. Paul E. Kahle y los estudios de crĂtica textual bĂblica en España», y la descripciĂłn hecha por PĂ©rez Castro del primer proyecto para editar el CĂłdice de Profetas de El Cairo. Gracias a estos testimonios hemos podido documentar las principales fases de la relaciĂłn entre estos dos eminentes profesores y el papel que tal relaciĂłn desempeñó en el origen y posterior desarrollo de estos estudios en Madrid
The professional development of counsellors and psychotherapists: Implications of empirical studies for supervision, training and practice
Background: This article presents key findings of two major empirical studies of psychotherapist and counsellor development. Both aimed to advance knowledge of variations in professional development and better understand the complexity of formative influences.Methodology: The Minnesota Study of Therapist and Counsellor Development and the International Study of Development of Psychotherapists (ISDP) combined qualitative and quantitative research.Results: In the âMinnesota study,â qualitative analysis of data from 100 psychotherapists (172 interviews) at different experience levels led to formulating five phases of practitioner development: the Novice Student Phase, Experienced Student Phase, Novice Professional Phase, Experienced Professional Phase and Senior Professional Phase. Results were integrated in a model describing three developmental trajectoriesâContinued development, Exhaustion and Disengagementâsuggesting a developmentally sensitive approach to supervision. In the ISDP study, the Development of Psychotherapist Common Core Questionnaire was used to survey approximately 5,000 psychotherapists from countries throughout the world from 1991 to 2003 (currently about 12,000 therapists). Multiâlevel quantitative analysis yielded two broad dimensions of therapeutic work experience, Healing Involvement and Stressful Involvement, based on therapistsâ clinical skills, difficulties in practice, coping strategies, manner of relating to clients and inâsession feelings. Analysis of therapistsâ experiences of current professional development showed two dimensions (Currently Experienced Growth and Currently Experienced Depletion). These were predicted, respectively, by Healing Involvement and Stressful Involvement and in turn predicted different levels of Overall Career Development.Implications: Implications for supervison were drawn from the findings of The Phase Model and the Cyclical Trajectories model of the Minnesotaâstudy, while the ISDP study results were integrated in a CyclicalâSequential Model with implications for clinical training, supervision and practice
Motivation as a predictor of outcomes in school-based humanistic counselling
Recent years have seen a growth in the provision of counselling within UK secondary schools, and research indicates that it is associated with significant reductions in psychological distress. However, little is known about the moderators and mediators of positive therapeutic benefit. In the field of adult mental health, motivation has been found to be one of the strongest predictors of therapeutic outcomes, and it was hypothesised that this may also be a predictor of outcomes for young people in school-based counselling services. To assess the relationship between young peopleâs motivation for counselling and its effectiveness within a secondary school setting. Eighty-one young people (12 - 17 years old) who attended school-based humanistic counselling services in Scotland. Clients completed a measure of motivation for counselling at the commencement of their therapeutic work and a measure of psychological wellbeing at the commencement and termination of counselling. Motivation for counselling was not found to be significantly related to outcomes. The results indicate that the association between motivation and outcomes may be weaker in young people as compared with adults. However, a number of design factors may also account for the non-significant findings: insufficient participants, marginal reliability of the motivation measure and social desirability effects
Clientsâ experiences of one-to-one low-intensity interventions for common mental health problems : an interpretative phenomenological analysis
Objectives: Common mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety are highly
prevalent and carry significant health care and economic burdens. The UKâs improving
access to psychological therapies (IAPT) initiative was developed as a cost-effective way of
reducing the pernicious effects of these disorders. IAPT interventions, such as guided
self-help, have been subjected to considerable quantitative evaluation. However, there
has been minimal investigation into clientsâ experiences of the one-to-one low-intensity
interventions (LIIs), which form a key component of IAPT service provision. Qualitative
exploration could provide rich data regarding experiences of psychological change and
factors affecting therapeutic experiences. This will enable informative, client led insights
into how low-intensity therapy can be improved.
Methods: Interpretative phenomenological analysis of eight semi-structured interviews
was used to develop an idiosyncratic understanding of clientsâ experiences of one-to-one
LIIs following entry into a randomized control trial (RCT).
Results: Four superordinate themes were identified from clientsâ accounts: goals and
expectations of therapy, beneficial aspects of therapy, non-beneficial aspects of therapy,
and the experience of psychological change. A heuristic model of interrelationships
between factors is proposed.
Conclusions: Both therapeutic techniques and relationships contribute to beneficial
therapeutic experiences. The results reported here can be used to inform practice by
harnessing the most beneficial aspects of therapy, such as developing adaptive therapeutic
approaches to clientsâ clinical needs and facilitating idiosyncratic processes of psychological
change. Due to limited qualitative research in this area, further research should be conducted
in different service settings to assess differences and similarities in clientsâ experiences
An exploration into the client at the heart of therapy : a qualitative perspective
Over 50 years ago Eysenck challenged the existing base of research into psychotherapy. Since that time, a large number of investigations have been conducted to verify the efficacy of therapy. Recently however, an increasing number of studies have cast new doubts on this research base. Instead of therapy being a function of the therapist, it is now becoming ever more apparent that the client plays a prime role in the therapeutic process. The qualitative studies presented in this paper provide some examples of research that demonstrates that clients are actively involved in their therapy, even making counselling work despite their counsellor. These studies suggest that clients may not experience therapy as beneficially as traditional outcome studies indicate. This raises a new challenge to researchers to more fully explore the client's experience of therapy, a challenge to which qualitative methods of inquiry would appear well suited
Interactional positioning and narrative self-construction in the first session of psychodynamic-interpersonal psychotherapy
The purpose of this study is to identify possible session one indicators of end of treatment psychotherapy outcome using the framework of three types of interactional positioning; clientâs self-positioning, clientâs positioning between narrated self and different partners, and the positioning between client and therapist. Three successful cases of 8-session psychodynamic-interpersonal (PI) therapy were selected on the basis of client Beck Depression Inventory scores. One unsuccessful case was also selected against which identified patterns could be tested. The successful clients were more descriptive about their problems and demonstrated active rapport-building, while the therapist used positionings expressed by the client in order to explore the positionings developed between them during therapy. The unsuccessful case was characterized by lack of positive self-comment, minimization of agentic self-capacity, and empathy-disrupting narrative confusions. We conclude that the theory of interactional positioning has been useful in identifying patterns worth exploring as early indicators of success in PI therapy
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Healing involvement and stressful involvement experienced by psychotherapy trainees: Patterns, correlates and perceived development
Background and Method: The experiences of 454 psychotherapy trainees when providing therapy to patients were surveyed in a multinational sample largely from European countries, as part of the collaborative SPRISTAD study, using established measures of trainees' Healing Involvement (HI) and Stressful Involvement (SI). Results: The results of cross-sectional analyses included the delineation of four differential patterns of therapeutic work involvement showing approximately half the trainees experienced an Effective Practice (high HI, low SI) while the other half experienced either a Challenging Practice (high HI, high SI), a Disengaged Practice (low HI, low SI) or a Distressing Practice (low HI, high SI). Discussion: Strong-to-moderate correlations were found between involvement styles and trainees' individual personal and professional characteristics, and among training programme and workplace situational conditions, and their possible applications to candidate selection and training practices were discussed. A strong association was seen between HI and SI qualities of trainees' therapeutic work and their positive or negative experiences of current professional development. Implications for training and hypotheses for future longitudinal studies were proposed based on the results.</p
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