Psych Outcomes Flashcards
Client Variables
client variables believed to be better predictors of therapy outcome than therapist or tx variables:
Client Variables
Intelligence – higher IQ, more likely to benefit
Openness/Nondefensiveness – cooperative clients achieve best results
Age – little to do with therapy outcome
Gender – no consistent relationship btwn gender and therapy outcome
Motivation – inconsistent findings, may be more important as the dev’t of motivation during therapy and not at the beginning
Understanding Goals – moderate predictor of tx success
SES – more a function of therapist variables (low expectations) than a function of client himself
Personality Characteristics – ego strength, suggestibility, and anxiety tolerance are related to a positive outcome
Expectations – pts with extremely high or low expectations don’t do as well compared to those with moderate expectations about therapy
Therapist Variables
Age - weakly associated with tx outcome, for younger pts similarity in age as well as sex and background have some slight effect
Ethnicity - sometimes assoc with low early termination and drop-out, but no clarity on how, or whether it affects outcome in any sig way,
Similarity of VALUES, LIFE-STYLES and EXPERIENCES have greater positive impact than ethnicity
Emotional Well-Being – clear but modest relationship to therapy success
Expectations – some evidence, need to address pt’s expectations
Professional Background and Experience – little support, clients often view therapist’s education as important but not related to therapy outcome
Self-Disclosure – inconsistent, but unlikely to produce increased tx effectiveness
Orientation – no effect, diff schools of therapy have similar results
Gender – no sig relationship
Competence – the MOST IMPORTANT therapist variable
Treatment Variables
Treatment Variables
Therapeutic Alliance – most of variance in tx outcome is accounted for by this
Type of Treatment – no one type or form of tx is viewed as significantly better than any other
Duration – mixed, some found time-limited txs more favorable to longer txs, up to 26 sessions there is a fairly linear positive relation btwn number of session and tx success
Phase Model of Psychotherapy
Phase Model of Psychotherapy proposed by Howard and outlines a progressive, 3-stage sequence of change
Remoralization – focuses on pt’s subjective well-being, main outcome of this phase is an improvement in pt’s feelings of hopelessness and desperation
Remediation – focuses on sxs reduction and relief, generally occurs btwn 5-15th session
Rehabilitation – gradual improvement in various aspects of lfie
