While past research has found conflicting results on the place for client role preferences in psychotherapy, none of this research has examined the client role preferences in an actual client population seeking outpatient therapy. This study involved the development of a measure of client role preferences which attempted to survey a wider range of…

The feelings of therapist and patient toward each other are important factors in the therapeutic relationship. This study investigated how beginning therapists perceive and are perceived by clients. After initial counseling sessions with college student clients (N=133), six psychotherapy practicum trainees at a university counseling center…

While some new journals for psychotherapists are beginning to address practical decisions important for attracting clients and succeeding in the business of psychotherapy, the literature which might provide empirical evidence upon which to base such decisions still lags. A study was undertaken to provide practitioners with further information and…

Selected personality variables, sex, age, interpersonal values, and educational level, were examined as antecedents to preferences for a nondirective (Carl Rogers) or directive (Albert Ellis) therapist. Individuals who preferred the Ellis presentation proved to more dogmatic and externalized than individuals preferring the Rogers presentation.…

Examined the health behaviors practiced by psychotherapists (N=86) themselves and the extent to which they focus on these behaviors with their clients. Results indicated that psychotherapists actively evaluate and make recommendations to their clients in the areas of diet, physical exercise, and relaxation practice. (JAC)

A clinical setting was used to evaluate therapist characteristics, therapist process, and family process in a short-term systems-behavioral model of family intervention. Families were designated by one of four degrees of therapy outcome. The data suggest that therapist relationship skills may be crucial determinants of therapy success. (Author)

The author examines several of Ellis'"irrational ideas" as they relate specifically to counselors. These ideas provide a convenient vehicle for the discussion of some typical misconceptions about counseling. Counselors are encouraged to analyze their own feelings and thought processes and to determine irrational ideas in addition to those…

Psychologists (N=236) rated the desirability of various levels of eight therapist characteristics, including sex, for the optimal therapist for the presented case. Optimal ratings indicated that subjects thought it desirable for the therapist and the client to be of the same sex. (Author)

Investigated whether particualr types of patients benefit from a given level of a professed technique. High scores on empathic warmth and uncovering appear to be more helpful for patients with neurotic and personality trait disorder diagnoses. Low scores on directiveness seemed to be associated with effectiveness. (Author)

Outlined method for studying rater bias in counseling and psychotherapy. Used method to study three potential sources of rater bias concerning characteristics of rater, client, and therapist. Examined ratings on Collaborative Study Psychotherapy Rating Scale for 826 sessions of psychotherapy in Treatment of Depression Collaborative Research…

Sees need for research examining differences among psychotherapy treatments to use model to narrow search for variables mediating between treatment type and outcome. Asserts that tests of treatment selection models that cut across narrow theoretical differences among psychotherapies and that operationalize definitions of patient types hold promise…

Adherence to a variety of conceptual frameworks in psychological treatment has resulted in technical and theoretical eclecticism. Therapy techniques have become reduced to a set of tactics in which the therapist juggles conceptual frameworks in an attempt to maximize constructive behavior change. The practitioner must conceptualize his therapeutic…

Some theoreticians believe that diagnostic and prognostic impressions are based in part on clinicians' personal values. A study was conducted to assess whether clinical judgment is affected by patient religiosity, therapist religiosity, or an interaction between patient and therapist religiosity. Psychotherapists' (N=15) judgments concerning…

Based in part on a doctoral dissertation submitted to the University of California at Berkeley, and supported by Public Health Service Grant 4F1-MH-12, 595-04.

Social work clinicians who continue to practice during pregnancy should be aware that their condition will affect their clients' responses as well as their own, and that the pregnancy may even present unique treatment opportunities. (Author)