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Swift, J.K., Greenberg, R.P., Whipple, J.L., & Kominiak, N. (2012). Practice recommendations for reducing premature termination in therapy. Professional Psychology, 43, 379-387.

As discussed in a previous blog entry, Swift and Greenberg (2012) found that almost 20% of adult individual therapy patients drop out of therapy. Dropping out is generally defined as clients unilaterally terminating psychotherapy prior to benefitting fully and against their therapist recommendation. In this paper, Swift and colleagues review five methods with the best research evidence to reduce premature termination. (1) Providing education about duration and course of therapy. Research indicates that 25% of clients expect to recover after only two sessions of therapy, 44% after four sessions, and 62% expect to recover after 8 sessions. However the research literature indicates that it takes 13 to 18 sessions for 50% of clients to recover. Further, although some clients improve quickly and maintain that, some clients may feel worse before they get better, especially if the symptoms are related to painful feelings or events. So aligning client expectations about the length of treatment and the course of treatment may reduce dropping out. This education should be research based to increase the credibility of the information. (2) Providing role induction. Clients who are naıve to therapy may start not knowing what behaviors or roles are most appropriate on their part and could feel lost or like they are doing things wrong. Role induction refers to providing clients with some pre-treatment education or orientation about appropriate therapy behaviors. This could be done by video, verbally, or in writing. A meta analysis found that pre-therapy role induction increases attendance and reduces drop outs. (3) Incorporating client preferences. Client preferences include wants or desires concerning the type of treatment that is to be used, the type of therapist one would like to work with, and the roles and behaviors that are to take place in therapy. A recent meta analysis found that clients who had their preferences accommodated were almost half as likely to drop out of treatment prematurely compared with clients whose preferences were not taken into account. (4) Strengthening early hope. Although it is important that clients do not hold unrealistic expectations (i.e., recovery after only two sessions), it is also important that they have a general hope that therapy can help them get better. Research evidence shows that expectations for change explain as much as 15% of the variance in therapy outcomes. (5) Fostering the therapeutic alliance. The therapeutic alliance involves agreeing on goals and tasks of therapy, and a positive bond between client and therapist. A rupture in the alliance has been associated with dropping out of therapy, and a previous meta analysis found that a stronger alliance was associated with fewer drop outs.

Practice Implications

Therapists can do 5 things that are research supported to reduce patient drop outs. (1) Provide education about duration and course of therapy.  Practicing clinicians can help their clients to develop realistic expectations about duration and recovery prior to the start of therapy. Clinicians working with a more severely disturbed population or working from an orientation that espouses longer treatment durations may want to alter the education they provide to better fit their clients. (2) Provide role induction. Clinicians can provide education about the “jobs” of both the client and the therapist, such as who is expected to do most of the talking and who will be responsible for structuring or directing sessions. This type of induction should also include a discussion of the rationale for the approach that will be used. (3) Incorporate client preferences. Accommodating client preferences does not mean the therapist should automatically use the client’s preferred methods. Often clients are unaware of what treatment options are available or best suited for their particular problems. Instead, therapists should consider sharing their knowledge about the particular disorder and the nature of different approaches to the treatment of those problems with clients. Clients can then share their preferences regarding those treatment options with the therapist and work collaboratively toward a decision about which approach might be best. (4) Strengthen early hope. Therapists should express confidence that the therapy will work for their patient. Knowing the research evidence on the efficacy of psychotherapy will increase the therapist’s credibility in making such statements. (5) Foster a therapeutic alliance. Efforts to foster the therapeutic alliance should occur early on in therapy when the risk of premature termination is high, and as also therapy progresses. Early efforts should focus on making sure there is an agreement on the goals and tasks before jumping to treatment interventions.

Author email: Joshua.Keith.Swift@gmail.com

Laska, K. M., Smith, T. L., Wislocki, A. P., Minami, T., & Wampold, B. E. (2013). Uniformity of evidence-based treatments in practice? Therapist effects in the delivery of cognitive processing therapy for PTSD. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 60(1), 31-41.

Some therapists are more effective than others. Why, and how can we improve therapist effectiveness? Previous researchers estimates that differences among therapists account for 8% of the outcome variance, which is as big or a bigger effect than differences between treatment types. Some argue that training and supervising therapists in evidence-based treatments (EBTs) can reduce differences between therapists. But if training in EBTs does not reduce differences, what are the therapist factors we should be focusing on to improve outcomes? A study by Laska and colleagues (2013) addresses some of these issues. In their study, 25 therapists (psychologists and social workers) in Veterans Administration (VA) hospitals were trained by a nationally recognized trainer in cognitive processing therapy (CPT) for post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and they treated 192 veterans. Therapists were trained to a standard level of competence in CPT, and they were supervised weekly by a certified expert in CPT. Differences between therapists’ effectiveness accounted for 12% of the outcome variance. In other words training and supervision in CPT did not appear to reduce differences between therapists, so that some therapists remained significantly more (or less) effective than others. The CPT expert supervisor was able to identify the more effective therapists even though she was blind to patient outcomes. She was also asked to list the qualities of these more successful therapists. Four areas emerged from the qualitative analysis of the supervisor interviews. (1) Reducing Avoidance – i.e., therapists’ ability to skilfully address patient avoidance of difficult areas or avoidance of therapy assignments, and not to collude with client avoidance; (2) Language in Supervision – i.e., therapists’ willingness to discuss struggles with cases, openness to discussing their contribution to impasses, and non-defensiveness in response to supervisor feedback; (3) Flexible Interpersonal Style – i.e., therapists’ ability both to join with and to challenge patients, to flexibly apply the manual so that they did not miss important interpersonal events in the therapy, but at the same time not to stray too far from the manual; and (4) Strong Therapeutic Alliance –i.e., therapists’ genuineness with patients, ability to develop a bond, and to agree with patients on tasks and goals of therapy.

Practice Implications

Creating a culture within a practice setting in which therapists are routinely provided feedback about their clients’ ongoing progress and about the therapeutic relationship has the potential to improve patient care. Therapists’ ability to handle interpersonally challenging encounters with patients is what distinguishes the most competent therapists from others. Training and supervision of therapists should focus on facilitative interpersonal skills as well as on the specific treatment protocol.

Author email: Kevin.Laska2@va.gov

Handbook of Psychotherapy and Behavior Change: The Handbook of Psychotherapy and Behavior Change is perhaps the most important compendium of psychotherapy research covering a large number of research areas. The Handbook is updated approximately every 10 years, and the most recent 6^th edition was published in January 2013. In the coming months I will review one chapter a month in addition to commenting on psychotherapy research articles. Book chapters have more restrictive copy right rules about distributing content, so I will not provide author email addresses for these chapters. If you are interested, you can view the table of contents on Amazon.

Lambert, M.J. (2013). The efficacy and effectiveness of psychotherapy. In M.J. Lambert (Ed.) Bergin and Garfield’s handbook of psychotherapy and behaviour change (6^th ed.), pp169-218. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley.

This comprehensive chapter in the Handbook reviews research on the efficacy and effectiveness of psychotherapy. Lambert’s reviews focus on meta-analyses, which is a way of summarizing effect sizes in a research area. The bottom line is that psychotherapy is effective so that 40% to 60% of clients show substantial benefit in controlled research trials, though the effect is likely smaller in routine practice.  Concurrently, a consistent proportion of adults (5% to 10%) deteriorate during psychotherapy. Patients who receive formal treatment are better off than those who receive no treatment, and bona fide treatments are superior to control conditions that provide only some aspects of effective treatment. When psychotherapy is offered by skilful therapists, on average clients experience appreciable gains and return to normal functioning. Fifty percent of patients achieve clinically significant gains after 8 sessions, and 50% achieve recovery after about 20 sessions of psychotherapy. The effects of psychotherapy tend to be long lasting. For example, only 25% treated depressed patients relapse, whereas 50% of those who receive antidepressants relapse. Research continues to support those therapies that have been rigorously tested, and differences in effectiveness between therapy types (e.g., cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), psychodynamic, interpersonal, etc.) tend to be small or negligible for many disorders. Cognitive behavioural therapy is still the most tested therapy modality, though other treatments are also accumulating evidence of efficacy. Treatment is likely facilitated by a therapeutic relationship that is characterized by trust, understanding, acceptance, kindness, and warmth. The effect of the therapist providing the therapy is at least as large as the effect of different therapy techniques. That is, some therapists are unusually effective, whereas others may not help the majority of patients who seek their services. Continuous monitoring of outcomes and providing regular feedback to the therapist improves the therapy’s effectiveness.

Practice Implications

Providers and patients can be assured that a broad range of formally defined and tested psychotherapies when provided by skilful therapists are likely to result in appreciable gains in clients including a return to normal functioning. Therapy relationships characterized by trust, understanding, acceptance, and warmth can greatly facilitate change in depression, anxiety, inadequacy, and inner conflicts. When making a decision about which therapy to choose, clients would be wise to consider the therapist as a person at least as much as the type of therapy being offered. Treatment efforts should be based on the best evidence available for treatment types, therapist behaviors, and relationship factors. Routinely monitoring the effects of therapy with each patient will give the therapist ongoing information about their effectiveness and may improve their patients’ outcomes.

Blume-Marcovici, A. C., Stolberg, R. A., & Khademi, M. (2013). Do therapists cry in therapy? The role of experience and other factors in therapists' tears. Psychotherapy. Advance online publication. doi:10.1037/a0031384

There is almost no research on therapists crying during psychotherapy, and on its correlates and impact. A survey of therapists’ ethical behavior conducted 25 years ago asked a single question about crying, and 56.5% of respondents indicated that they cried in the presence of a client. By contrast there are several such surveys in medicine. Notably, a study of medical students and interns found that 68% medical students and 74% of medical interns had cried with patients. A recent survey by Blume-Marcovici and colleagues is the first of its kind since it was devoted to therapists crying in therapy and associated factors. They defined crying as: “tears in one’s eyes due to emotional reasons”. The authors surveyed U.S. psychologists and had 541 respondents. The sample included 59% graduate students, and 41% licensed clinicians who had an average of 9.6 years experience. Seventy six percent were women, mean age was 36 years, 35% had a cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) orientation, and 33% had some psychodynamic orientation (PDT). Respondents reported that 72% had cried in therapy. Those who cried reported crying in 6.6% of their sessions in the past 4 weeks. There were no differences between men and women, and there was no association between therapist crying and therapist personality traits or level of empathy. Therapists who cried more often in their daily life tended to cry more in therapy. PDT and CBT therapists did not differ in the amount they cried in their daily lives, however PDT therapists (88.9%) reported crying more often than CBT therapists (50.1%) in therapy. Further, older and more experienced therapists reported crying more often in therapy in the past month than younger and less experienced therapists. It is possible that older therapists may become more comfortable in using their clinical judgment, and so have fewer restrictions on their own affective displays. Of therapists who cried, 45.7% felt that the therapeutic relationship improved, and 1% reported that the relationship deteriorated due to crying. Patients, however, were not surveyed for their opinion about their therapist’s crying.

Practice Implication

Crying among therapists may happen relatively frequently. Although this study is novel, it is the only one of its kind so one should be cautious about drawing practice implication. The challenge of therapists crying in therapy is that it can bend or break the therapeutic frame (e.g., is the therapist crying because of being overwhelmed and acting on his or her own needs, or is the therapist genuinely responding for and with the patient?). The survey suggests that therapist crying can strengthen the therapeutic relationship. This is more likely true when the therapist is attuned to the patient’s needs, and when the crying signals a moment of positive emotional connection in the midst of painful feelings in the client. As with any event in therapy, a genuine and skilful exploration by the therapist and patient of the therapist’s crying has the potential to strengthen the relationship.

Author email: ablume@alliant.edu

Fowler, J.C. (2012). Suicide risk assessment in clinical practice: Pragmatic guidelines for imperfect assessments. Psychotherapy, 49, 81-89.

The journal Psychotherapy regularly publishes Practice Reviews, which are clinician-friendly practical articles that are based on the best current evidence. Recently, James Fowler published a Practice Review on suicide risk assessment. The assessment, management, and treatment of suicidal patients are some of the most stressful events in clinical practice. However, there is very little that is clear in the evidence base to help clinicians to make accurate assessments about suicide risk. Assessing suicide risk factors tends to result in making an inordinate number of false-positive predictions (i.e., deciding that a patient will attempt suicide when in fact the patient will not attempt suicide). Making false positive suicide predictions might be seen by some as desirable because doing so represents a conservative course of action. However, a clinician acting as if a patient will suicide when he or she will not can lead to unintended negative consequences for the therapeutic alliance and for the patient’s future trust in health professionals. Fowler suggests an assessment approach in which efforts are made to enhance therapeutic alliance by negotiating a collaborative approach to assessing risk and understanding why thoughts of suicide are so compelling. The list of protective factors (e.g., supportive social contacts, religious beliefs, therapeutic contacts) and risk factors (e.g., past suicide attempts) based on the most current evidence are presented in the article in easy to read tables. Fowler also presents a list of clinician resources for suicide assessment and facts with handy web site addresses. For example, Fowler suggests the Suicide Assessment Five-step Evaluation and Triage (SAFE-T) that incorporates the risk and protective factors with the best evidence base.

Practice Implications

Most methods of predicting suicide risk result in false positives (i.e., predicting suicide when suicide will not occur). Though conservative, a false positive prediction of suicide risk can have a negative impact on therapeutic alliance and patients’ future trust in health care providers. Evidence-based assessments of risk and protective factors may help. A free SAFE-T pocket guide is available to download at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) web site: http://store.samhsa.gov/product/SMA09-4432.

Author email: cfowler@menninger.edu

Town, J. M., Diener, M. J., Abbass, A., Leichsenring, F., Driessen, E., & Rabung, S. (2012). A meta-analysis of psychodynamic psychotherapy outcomes: Evaluating the effects of research-specific procedures. Psychotherapy, 49, 276-290.

One of the main reasons that some clinicians do not participate in research is that they argue that doing so will have a negative impact on the therapeutic relationship, the therapy process, and patient outcomes. Although I have heard this from clinicians of many theoretical orientations, this opinion is perhaps most strongly held by some colleagues with a psychodynamic orientation. I identify with psychodynamic theory and practice, so this opinion about research held by some of my colleagues has been very disconcerting to me. Up to now, the best I could say in defense of practice-based research of psychodynamic therapy was to talk about my own experiences, which have been highly positive and rewarding. A recent meta analysis by Town and colleagues from Dalhousie University changes all that. (First, a note about meta analysis. Meta analysis is a statistical way of combining the effects of many studies, each of which has a number of participants, into a common metric called an effect size. By combining studies, the end result is more meaningful and more reliable than the results of any single study on its own.). The meta analysis by Town and colleagues had 45 independent samples and over 1600 patients. Results indicated that psychodynamic treatments for a variety of disorders (e.g., depression, anxiety, personality disorders) showed a significant large positive treatment effect – this is not new. What is new is that compared to conditions in which no research-specific protocols were introduced, conditions that did use research protocols were no different in terms of patient outcomes up to one year post treatment. There was even a significant small positive effect of these research protocols on outcomes from post treatment to one year post treatment. Research-specific protocols included video recordings of therapy sessions, therapists following treatment manuals, fidelity checks to make sure therapists were accurately doing psychodynamic therapy, and psychometric measurements of processes and outcomes

Practice Implications

Research protocols do not have a negative impact on psychodynamic therapy outcomes. Perhaps research protocols should be introduced into all therapies to improve longer term outcomes in addition to studying therapy procedures and processes that work.

Author email: joel.town@dal.ca