Client perceptions of significant events in prescriptive and exploratory periods of individual therapy

Abstract

This study compared the impact of helpful and hindering events, as perceived by 40 clients, in two forms of psychotherapy: an exploratory, relationship‐oriented therapy, and a prescriptive, cognitive/behavioural therapy. All clients received eight sessions of each type of treatment in a crossover design. Events were obtained by self‐report both during and at the end of each period, and content analysed for type of therapeutic impact by three trained raters. Results showed that during treatment the most commonly occurring helpful impacts across both types of treatments were ‘problem solution’, ‘awareness’ and ‘reassurance’, while the most commonly occurring hindering impact was ‘unwanted thoughts’. Similar impacts were reported at the end of each period, with the addition of ‘personal contact’. In addition, it was found that ‘problem solution’ and ‘reassurance’ impacts were more commonly reported in prescriptive treatment, whereas ‘awareness’ and ‘personal contact’ impacts were more prevalent in exploratory treatment. Only the prevalence of ‘unwanted thoughts’ was correlated (negatively) with outcome. Some possible reasons for the lack of correlation between reported impacts and outcome are suggested.