Ways to Foster Better Psychotherapy

Role of psychotherapists in treatment effectiveness has been explored by a study at the University Of Massachusetts Amherst, published in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. This may lead to more personalized clinical practices and training for therapists to help maximize their therapeutic impact and improve patient outcomes.

“Research has tended to focus on the contributions of the patient or treatment type to therapy outcomes, which makes sense in a lot of ways, but unfortunately the therapist contribution has been somewhat neglected. Our current trainings, which are often standardized across therapists, tend not to promote consistent improvements in patient outcomes. Instead, we believe that personalizing training to therapists’ unique strengths and weaknesses could enhance training outcomes down the line,” says lead author Alice Coyne, now a post-doctoral researcher at Case Western Reserve University and a Ph.D. graduate of UMass Amherst.

The study tested if the patients experience more symptomatic and functional improvement in psychotherapy when a higher-quality patient-therapist alliance exists, as well as when the patient has a more positive expectation for change.

Moreover, the study also anticipated if these associations differed based on who the therapist is. Finally, the study also looked at whether certain therapist characteristics predict which therapists tend to use relationship and belief processes to more therapeutic benefit across their caseloads.

Psychotherapy and Factors Influencing

To examine these, the team analyzed data from 212 adults who were treated by 42 psychotherapists as part of a randomized trial that compared case-assignment methods in community-based mental health care.

The patients were repeatedly asked to complete the surveys that measured their alliance quality with the therapist and their expectations for improvement.

It was found that in general, all the three hypothesized statements were correct. Better alliance quality and more positive outcome expectations were associated with better treatment outcomes.

In addition, as predicted, therapists exhibited different strengths and weaknesses in their use of relationship, alliance, and belief processes.

“If you learn the things that you do particularly well as a therapist, then you can tailor your practice and play to your strengths,” says, Coyne.

Source-Medindia