Abstract

Time-limited effective psychotherapy is a topic that is frequently addressed in clinical therapy research. Though a wide range of therapeutic factors, expectancy effects, techniques, and extratherapeutic have all been demonstrated to be related to outcome, researchers have consistently identified the therapeutic alliance as one of the strongest factors in predicting psychotherapy outcomes. Researchers are beginning to measure the effectiveness of therapy by evaluating improvements in outcome measures, and client reported therapeutic alliance. Researchers have recently began investigating the common personality profiles among psychotherapists, and have hypothesized that there is a relationship between psychotherapist personality and therapeutic alliance. The goal of this research was to determine if the relationship between psychotherapist personality traits and therapeutic alliance existed and whether a therapeutic alliance focused intervention would improve client reported therapeutic alliance. Researchers recruited pre-licensed graduate level psychotherapists from community-based outpatient clinics. A total of 50 psychotherapists participated by completing a NEO-Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI).Clients of these therapists were also asked to complete a Working Alliance Inventory-Short Form (WAI-S) and an Outcome Rating Scale (ORS). Results indicated that psychotherapists, in general, have lower levels of Neuroticism, and higher levels of Openness and Agreeableness, compared to community normative data. The researchers found that Agreeableness played a significant role in client-reported therapeutic alliance. Psychotherapists who had the highest ratings of therapeutic alliance had significantly higher scores on the Agreeableness scale compared to psychotherapists who had the lowest ratings of therapeutic alliance. Researchers were unable to statistically demonstrate that therapeutic alliance focused interventions were related to higher ratings of therapeutic alliance or psychotherapy outcomes. However, reports from participants suggest that additional therapeutic alliance focused interventions are beneficial for individuals providing direct service to clients and for supervisors.

LLU Discipline

Clinical Psychology

Department

Psychology

School

School of Behavioral Health

First Advisor

Vermeersch, David A.

Second Advisor

Boyd, Kendal

Third Advisor

Brenner, Colleen

Fourth Advisor

Davis, John

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Degree Level

Ph.D.

Year Degree Awarded

2018

Date (Title Page)

9-2018

Language

English

Library of Congress/MESH Subject Headings

Psychotherapists; Personality

Subject - Local

Time-limited Effective Psychotherapy; Therapeutic Alliance; Outcomes

Type

Dissertation

Page Count

90

Digital Format

PDF

Digital Publisher

Loma Linda University Libraries

Usage Rights

This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has granted Loma Linda University a limited, non-exclusive right to make this publication available to the public. The author retains all other copyrights.

Collection

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Collection Website

http://scholarsrepository.llu.edu/etd/

Repository

Loma Linda University. Del E. Webb Memorial Library. University Archives

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