| Abstract: | A review of the research on the relation between therapist behavior and psychotherapy indicates that outcome should include the context of therapist behavior. The context has been deemphasized by measuring therapist behavior alone, sampling the session nonintensively at random or fixed points, and using statistics that focus on proportions or averages of ratings within a given time. The context of therapist behavior can be examined by measuring patient behavior, studying critical incidents or whole sessions, and using statistical analyses that focus on the probabilities of transitions between behaviors. Further development of existing theories of psychotherapy may provide guidelines for studying context. In particular, more emphasis should be placed on the patient–therapist interaction. (54 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
