Clients' attributions about psychotherapy: What works?
Item
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Title
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Clients' attributions about psychotherapy: What works?
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Identifier
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AAI9130323
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identifier
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9130323
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Creator
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Hinds, John.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Alden Wessman
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Date
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1991
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Psychology, Clinical | Psychology, Social
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Abstract
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Seventy-one clients having at least 12 weeks of psychotherapy assessed a list of 30 treatment characteristics and techniques for frequency and efficacy and made attributions about initial problems and outcome. The assessed techniques, which prior research found effective, were drawn from differing treatment orientations. As hypothesized, reported outcome and efficacy were associated with therapist flexibility, and frequency and variety of techniques used, while clients reported a similar body of techniques and therapist characteristics across different orientations. Contrary to expectations, few meaningful attribution differences were found between reported successes and failures and no relation was found between client problems and technique. Significant differences in reported outcome, helpfulness, number, and frequency of techniques were found among the three treatment types with the behavioral group highest, the psychodynamic lowest, and an eclectic group in-between. These differences do not reflect clear technique differences among orientations. The psychodynamic group is best characterized by the de-emphasis, but not absence, of a few "behavioral" techniques. It is suggested that psychotherapy is a highly individual practice where specific techniques matter less than context and that all techniques facilitate a similar process of change: The greater the flexibility of treatment, the more possibilities for change exist. Suggestions for further research are offered.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
