A multidimensional comparison of therapist activity in analytic and client-centered therapy.

Abstract

"In an effort to compare the therapist''s activity in two forms of psychotherapy, a multidimensional system for analyzing therapeutic communications has been applied to two published case histories: A case treated by short-term therapy based upon psychoanalytic principles, and a case treated by client-centered therapy." Among the findings was the fact that the client-centered therapist''s activity "consisted principally of reflections of feeling," a technique which was sustained throughout treatment with minor variations. In the results it was seen "that the analytically oriented therapist used techniques which were generally more inferential" than the client-centered therapist. The implications of comparison of therapeutic techniques are discussed.