Psychology Commons^™

When Do Therapist Characteristics Matter Or Do They?, Han Lim Kim

Theses and Dissertations

This research aims to establish that considerable differences exist between therapists on how much their clients improve in treatment and understand the factors that contribute to such variability. Therapists’ sex, personality, and similarity of their personality with their clients’ personality were examined as moderators of change in treatment outcome. Findings must be interpreted with caution due to limitations of the dataset which make therapists effects hard to separate from client effects. There is variation around the amount of change therapists produce in their clients; however, this variation is much smaller compared to the variance among clients. Female therapists consistently had …

Examining The Relationship Between Therapists’ Attachment-Related Characteristics And The Process And Outcome Of Psychotherapy, Char M. Houben

Dissertations

Although psychotherapy researchers have gleaned greater understanding about how client attachment classifications influence the outcome of psychotherapy, relatively few studies have investigated therapists’ effects and have yielded inconclusive results (Steel et al., 2018). In the current study, we investigated how therapist attachment affects changes in the working alliance and client psychological distress over a course of psychotherapy treatment. We evaluated attachment in a sample of 23 therapist trainees from a university-based training clinic in the U.S. with the recently validated, transcript-based Therapist Attunement Scales (TASc; Talia & Muzi, 2017), which measures attunement by moment-to-moment discursive markers from a single psychotherapy …

Are Two Unmatched Minority Statuses Worse Than One? The Impact Of Social Status Similarities On Alliance In A Mock Clinical Interview, Roselee Jeannette Ledesma

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Strengthening therapeutic alliance through social identity matching has been a strategy used to reduce psychotherapy dropout among racial/ethnic and sexual minority clients. Limited research has examined social identity match by manipulating social identity (e.g., race/ethnicity, sexual orientation) in an analogue therapy setting. This study (1) assessed whether self-reported alliance was positively associated with theoretical proxies of alliance and (2) examined the effects of racial/ethnic and sexual orientation match on therapeutic alliance (self-reported) and proxies of alliance (perceived similarity, liking, blame, empathy, closeness, microaggression proxies, verbal validation, and open body language). Participants (N = 71) were heterosexual White women interested in …

Psychosocial Mechanisms Of Outcome In Pediatric Psychiatry, Alessandro S. De Nadai

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Nearly half of all youths experience a mental health disorder at some point during childhood (Merikangas et al., 2010). Pediatric psychopathology is associated with a substantial amount of impairment in the school, social, and home domains, and such symptoms can have adverse impacts on subsequent development (Beauchaine & Hinshaw, 2013; Patel, Flisher, Hetrick, & McGorry, 2007). Fortunately, a number of medications have demonstrated efficacy in treating a number of mental health conditions (Martin, Scahill, & Kratochvil, 2010). Despite these demonstrated effects, treatment response is often incomplete, and the mechanisms by which pharmacotherapy lead to behavior change are not well understood. …

Patient-Therapist Convergence In Alliance And Session Progress Ratings As Predictors Of Outcome In Psychotherapy For Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Alice E. Coyne

Masters Theses

The degree to which patients and their therapists align over time on their perceptions of therapeutic processes and intermediary outcomes has generally been regarded as an important element of effective psychotherapy; however, few studies have examined empirically the influence of such dyadic convergences on ultimate treatment outcomes. This study examined (a) whether early treatment convergences in patient-therapist alliance and session progress ratings were associated with subsequent worry and distress reduction (and final posttreatment level) in psychotherapy for generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), and (b) whether treatment type and the initial (session 1) levels of perceived alliance and session progress moderated these …

Supervisee Avoidant Attachment And Supervisors' Use Of Relational Behavior : Contributions To The Working Alliance, Katharine Suzanne Shaffer

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Supervision research has demonstrated the importance of a strong supervisory working alliance in the context of clinical training. However, little is known about what specifically occurs in clinical supervision that contributes to a strong supervisory working alliance. The present study of counselor trainees was designed to investigate relations among their avoidant attachment style, perceptions of relational behaviors used by their supervisors in the most recent supervision session, and the supervisory working alliance. Competing hypotheses stated that greater use of relational behavior on the part of supervisors would either mediate or moderate the inverse relationship between trainees' avoidant attachment style and …

Modeling Dyadic Attunement: Physiological Concordance In Newly Married Couples And Alliance Similarity In Patient-Therapist Dyads, Holly Laws

Doctoral Dissertations

Mutual influence within relationships is theorized as central to human development and functioning across the lifespan. Multiple theories posit a process of progressive bidirectional influence that results in greater similarity between dyad members over time, termed attunement. Yet attunement processes, from dyadic synchrony in healthy child development to partner influence within romantic relationships, are difficult to measure and model. One difficulty is that capturing information from both members of a relationship pair, or dyad, requires statistical modeling that appropriately accounts for the interdependence between them. The present study addressed this issue by putting forward a framework for modeling attunement processes …

Process Group Vs. Skills Group Modalities In The Treatment Of Individuals Diagnosed With Major Depressive Disorder, Kirk David Duncan

Wayne State University Dissertations

ABSTRACT

PROCESS GROUP

VS.

SKILLS GROUP MODALITIES

IN THE TREATMENT OF INDIVIDUALS DIAGNOSED WITH MAJOR

DEPRESSIVE DISORDER

by

KIRK DAVID DUNCAN

August 2014

Advisor: Dr. George Parris

Major: Counseling

Degree: Doctor of Philosophy

The goal of this study was to evaluate the impact of a process group vs. a cognitive behavioral skills group modality on depression while investigating the effects of facilitator bond on outcomes. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was conducted on the BDI-II posttest scores, and pretest scores served as the covariate and the group membership as the independent variable. When observing Figure 1 there was a visual desired …

Clarifying The Direction Of Effects Between Alliance And Client Involvement In Treatment For Child Anxiety In Community Settings, Nadia Islam

Theses and Dissertations

Alliance and client involvement are thought to be important therapy process factors in child psychotherapy; however, few studies have investigated them over the course of treatment. The present study examined change in alliance, client involvement, and the relationship between the two over time in an effectiveness study comparing cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and usual clinical care (UC) for child anxiety disorders. The sample included 40 clinically-referred children (57.50%, female, mean age = 10.81, SD = 2.11, 35.00% Caucasian, 32.50% Latino/Hispanic, 5.00% African-American, 7.50% mixed ethnicity, 20.00% not reported) and 39 therapists employed by community clinics. Two doctoral-level students comprised the …

Patient Outcome Expectations And Credibility Beliefs As Predictors Of The Alliance And Treatment Outcome, Rebecca M. Ametrano

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

The clinical relevance of patients’ psychotherapy outcome expectations has been substantiated by a fairly robust correlational literature. Furthermore, as a related yet distinct construct, patients’ treatment credibility beliefs have also been associated with positive treatment outcomes. Addressing several methodological limitations of past research, the current study examined the influence on early adaptive process (patient-psychotherapist alliance quality) and early treatment outcome (patient distress level) of patients’ outcome expectations and credibility beliefs, measured both statically and dynamically with a psychometrically sound self-report instrument. Patients were 110 adult outpatients receiving naturalistically delivered psychotherapy in a community mental health training clinic. The primary research …

Countertransference Behavior And Alliance Quality As A Function Of Therapist Self-Insight, Mamta B. Dadlani

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

The current study investigated preliminarily therapists’ countertransference (CT) behavior and alliance quality as a function of therapist self-insight, a central CT management factor. Eight therapist-trainees were rated by a clinical supervisor on their degree of self-insight and then assigned to a high or low self-insight group. The groups were compared on therapist CT behavior, from both therapist and supervisor perspectives, and on patient-perceived alliance quality. Effect size estimates suggested that high self-insight therapists displayed more CT behaviors than low self-insight therapists (with small to medium effects), and that patients of high self-insight therapists reported higher alliance scores (with a medium …