Psychotherapy process variables distinguishing the inherently helpful person from the professional psychotherapist.

Therapeutic hours conducted by analytically oriented, experientially oriented, and nonprofessional ("inherently helpful" college professors) therapists were rated along 8 process dimensions—therapist exploration, therapist directiveness, feeling attention, task orientation, therapeutic relationship, patient exploration, patient negativism, and patient psychic distress. Patients were 25 unmarried male college students with elevated scores on MMPI Scales 2, 7, and 0 who were participating in a psychotherapy outcome study. Two advanced clinical psychology graduate students independently rated videotapes of each 3rd therapy session on the Vanderbilt Psychotherapy Process Scale. Between-group differences were obtained on 6 of the 8 dimensions. Only patient negativism and patient exploration failed to yield significant effects. These results replicate the findings of previous analog investigations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effective ingredients in psychotherapy: Prediction of outcome from process variables.

Examined the impact of (a) exploration of the psychodynamic roots of patients' conflicts, (b) warmth and friendliness of the therapist-offered relationship, and (c) positiveness of patients' attitudes toward working in therapy on the outcome of brief therapy with 35 college males exhibiting symptoms of depression, anxiety, and social introversion. Symptoms were confirmed by elevated scores on the Depression, Psychasthenia, and Social Introversion scales, respectively, of the MMPI. Analyses of process ratings for audiotaped segments from 4 sessions throughout the course of therapy revealed that the activities of therapists of differing theoretical orientations and of professional vs untrained, "inherently helpful" therapists could be distinguished. Although patients' attitudes toward the therapist and patient involvement in the therapy process did not differ as a function of the type of therapist, the process dimension that most consistently predicted therapy outcome was patient involvement. Exploratory processes and therapist-offered relationship had a lesser influence on outcome. (71 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The psychotherapy of schizophrenia: Patient and therapist factors related to continuance.

The influence of pretreatment patient and therapist characteristics on continuance in individual psychotherapy was investigated using a sample of 143 nonchronic schizophrenic patients. Results showed that 1) most of the usual indicators of patient suitability for psychotherapy were not related to continuance; 2) patients with positive symptoms of schizophrenia were most likely to remain in supportive therapy, whereas patients with negative symptoms were more likely to remain in insight-oriented therapy; and 3) all patients were more likely to continue in treatment with therapists who had a strong commitment to a well-defined treatment approach, be it supportive or insight oriented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)