Betrayal in Psychotherapy and Its Antidotes by Stern E. Mark;

Author:Stern, E. Mark;
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 1829413
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Group

Still other studies which have linked therapists’ maturity to process and outcome have employed the evaluations of psychological tests.

In a study of self-actualization (as measured by the Personal Orientation Inventory) Foulds (1969) found that the dimension significantly related to therapists’ genuineness, empathy, and warmth. Specifically, he found that such characteristics as “the ability to be open and disclosing of one’s authentic being, … acceptance of oneself in spite of weaknesses, … and the ability to develop contactful intimate relationships” related to the therapists’ in-role offerings of genuineness, empathy, and warmth (p. 90).

In a study of therapists’ accurate empathy and empathic style of self-report, Fish (1970) found a positive correlation. His study suggested that the therapist’s openness to his/her own feelings (as demonstrated in a self-report) associated with the therapist’s openness and acceptance toward his/her clients. Bare (1967), similarly found that therapists who are more creative and express less need for social approval (as measured by a psychological test), also appear to be more empathic and helpful to clients.

Finally, Jackson and Thompson (1971), Burton (1972), and Gurman (1972) found that interpersonal fulfillment in therapists’ outside lives is related to effective counseling. Specifically, Jackson and Thompson (1971) discovered that the best therapists have more positive attitudes toward themselves, most people, and most clients. After studying the lives of 12 eminent therapists, Burton (1972) concluded that the personal capacity to cope with adversity had positive implications for professional performances. Similarly, Gurman (1972) found that effective therapists are generally more satisfied with their lives. “Most major reviews,” conclude Beutler et al. (1986), favor “improvement in depression and defensiveness among patients whose therapists had the lowest levels of emotional disturbance” (p. 272).

At the same time that research has shown that certain “mature” qualities are related to therapists’ effectiveness, another body of research (albeit smaller) has indicated that certain “immature” (or reverse) qualities are related to therapists’ ineffectiveness. Bandura, Lipsher, and Miller (1960), for example, found that therapists who were rated as possessing anxiety conflicts and high needs for social approval also seem to be less effective with clients. Bergin (1966) provided a similar finding.

Several researchers have used the MMPI (Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory) (e.g., Wogan, 1970; Garfield & Bergin, 1971; and Bergin & Jasper, 1969), and the TAT (Thematic Apperception Test) (e.g., Vandenbos & Karon, 1971), and found similar role/personality correlations. Wogan (1970), for example, found repressiveness to correlate negatively with therapists’ effectiveness. Bergin and Jasper (1969) found high anxiety and depression to be negatively correlated with therapists’ empathy; and Vandenbos and Karon (1971) showed that therapists’ rated high on “pathogenesis” were less effective with schizophrenics after a 6 month period.

Despite the predominance of studies favorable to the maturity/effectiveness link, a few studies have indicated that there is no such association.

Using the ratings of supervisors, Streitfeld (1959), for example, found no clear correlation between therapists’ expressed acceptance self and others and their effectiveness as counselors. Passons and Olsen (1969) found that therapists’ openmindedness (as rated by the Rokeach Dogmatism Scale) is unrelated to empathic sensitivity with clients.

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