| Abstract: | 14 psychotherapy clients were interviewed about their recollections, assisted by tape replay, of an immediately preceding therapy session. A major category derived from a grounded theory analysis of the interview protocols was client's deference to the therapist, constituted of 8 lower level categories: concern about the therapist's approach, fear of criticizing the therapist, understanding the therapist's frame of reference, meeting the perceived expectations of the therapist, accepting the therapist's limitations, client's metacommunication, threatening the therapist's self-esteem, and indebtedness to the therapist. The P. Brown and S. Levinson (1987) model of politeness in discourse both informs and is informed by the results of this study, which are also discussed in terms of recent literature on the client's covert experience and in terms of their implications for the practice of therapy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
