Child Psychology Commons^™

Predictors And Impact Of Psychotherapy Side Effects In Young Adults, Tierney K. Lorenz

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

What should we tell our younger clients—who may or may not have chosen to come to therapy—about possible risks of engaging in psychotherapy? To explore this question, we examined psychotherapy side effects in 366 young adults with a history of psychotherapy or counseling. Psychotherapy side effects were common, with 41% of participants reporting at least one. Perceived lack of control over the decision of when and how to engage in therapy was the strongest predictor of experiencing therapy side effects. Of the different kinds of side effects, feeling that therapy had gone on too long and experiencing worsening of existing …