Literature shows that therapist effects can play a role in the duration of therapy, but little is known about the differences between high-performance and low-performance therapists. Facilitative...Show moreLiterature shows that therapist effects can play a role in the duration of therapy, but little is known about the differences between high-performance and low-performance therapists. Facilitative Interpersonal Skills (FIS) are believed to influence treatment outcomes in psychotherapy. This study aimed to investigate whether clients of therapists with high FIS scores required fewer therapy sessions compared to clients of therapists with low FIS scores to achieve comparable treatment outcomes. Data from 59 clients and 9 therapists were collected, including FIS scores and the number of treatment sessions. Correlation and regression analyses were conducted to explore the relationships between FIS scores and the average number of treatment sessions. The findings indicated that therapists with higher FIS scores tended to have slightly shorter treatment lengths. However, when examining specific FIS skills, their impact on treatment duration varied. Further research with larger sample sizes is necessary to obtain a more comprehensive understanding of the associations between FIS scores, specific skills, and treatment outcomes.Show less
Research has shown that therapist competencies and characteristics influence therapy outcome. Peer group supervision can be a transparent alternative to personal therapy to support the development...Show moreResearch has shown that therapist competencies and characteristics influence therapy outcome. Peer group supervision can be a transparent alternative to personal therapy to support the development of therapeutic competencies. Therapists may also gain professional self-doubt from the peer group supervision through the increase in self-reflection. There were four participants total. The data from these participants was used in mixed model analyses to investigate the relations of time, between the first and final sessions, professional self-doubt, as scored on the Professional Self-Doubt scale (PSD), and therapeutic competencies scored on the ‘voormeting therapeutfactoren’ from the VGCt, with ratings of the peer group supervision sessions on the GSRS. Age and time as a member were included as covariates, gender was not, because all participants were female. Analyses were also run to look into a possible increase in PSD due to the sessions. The results did not support the hypotheses that PSD or therapeutic competencies pretest scores predicted higher ratings on the GSRS (b = -2.30(2.24); b = -.29(1.86)). PSD did make a significant difference in the deviance explained (F(4, 5) = 4.43, p < .05). The analysis showed a positive effect of time on the ratings (b = 2.76(4.30)). PSD scores appeared to decrease over the course of the sessions (b = -0.39 (0,16)). Unfortunately, there was a lack of data, and no significant results were found. Further research is needed to investigate the hypotheses and look into more specific factors and their influence.Show less
It is well established that therapists show different levels of effectiveness irrespective of the treatment provided, but less is known about the therapists’ characteristics that contribute to...Show moreIt is well established that therapists show different levels of effectiveness irrespective of the treatment provided, but less is known about the therapists’ characteristics that contribute to better treatment outcomes. Therapists’ facilitative interpersonal skills (FIS) were found to predict therapeutic alliance and treatment outcomes. However, no research up to date has examined any moderating factors of the relationship between therapists’ FIS and therapy outcomes. The present study aims to investigate whether therapists’ FIS predict clinical outcomes in a sample of 93 CBT therapists from two Dutch mental healthcare institutions. Moreover, it seeks to examine whether the relationship between therapists’ FIS and clinical outcomes is moderated by 1) the difficulty of therapy situation; 2) the severity of clients’ symptoms; and 3) organizational context. This cross-sectional study uses a randomized, within-subjects, counterbalanced design. Therapists’ FIS were measured using FIS performance task during which participants responded to the client in simulated therapy sessions consisting of either challenging or benign therapy fragments. Their responses were rated on eight domains of FIS task. Clinical outcomes were measured using 48-item Symptom Questionnaire. Multilevel analysis was used to analyze the data. Results indicated that therapists’ FIS did not predict clinical outcomes in the present sample. There were no significant associations between FIS and clinical outcomes in either challenging or benign therapy situations. The severity of clients’ symptoms did not moderate the association between FIS and clinical outcomes. These findings might more accurately represent the role of FIS in clinical practice and have important implications for therapist training.Show less
Background and aim: Although literature suggests that quality of life (QoL) in women with substance use disorders (SUDs) is lower than in men, it remains unknown whether this 1) applies to SUD...Show moreBackground and aim: Although literature suggests that quality of life (QoL) in women with substance use disorders (SUDs) is lower than in men, it remains unknown whether this 1) applies to SUD patients with psychiatric comorbidities in the Netherlands; and 2) whether there is a gender difference in QoL gain during treatment. This study therefore aimed to compare QoL (gain) between genders. Because research linked mood problems to worse QoL and substance usage in women, it was also the aim to compare genders in the association between (change in) mood problems and (change in) QoL. Methods: The longitudinal design involved data of day-patient treatments between 2018-2020. Sixty nine females and one hundred and thirty males with SUDs and comorbidities were assessed, using the EQ-5D-3L and the ICECAP-A. Analysis of variance and moderation analyses were performed with multiple imputation, controlling for treatment group. Results: At pretest, QoL in women was significantly lower when compared to men. There was no significant gender difference concerning gain in QoL, as well as regarding the association between mood problems and QoL at pretest and posttest. Conclusions: Women with SUDs and comorbidities experience lower QoL than men, a gender gap that is less profound in the normal population. Stigma and adverse life conditions arguably play a role. There is no evidence that men and women profit differently from treatment. In any case, mood problems, trauma experiences and meaningful activities could be considered more in future studies, as their association with QoL seems to be critical.Show less
Objectives: Some of the domains in which more experienced practitioners have been shown to outperform their less experienced colleagues relate to interpersonal skills, that can be measured by...Show moreObjectives: Some of the domains in which more experienced practitioners have been shown to outperform their less experienced colleagues relate to interpersonal skills, that can be measured by performance-based measure called Facilitative Interpersonal Skills (FIS). FIS has been identified as a strong predictor of treatment outcome, yet it is not known whether the FIS score is dependent on therapeutic experience. The present study tested the impact of clinical experience on FIS task performance by examining the influence of experience on FIS total score and the eight domains. Method: A total of 46 clinical psychology master’s students and 94 licensed cognitive-behavioural therapists participated in FIS assessment and provided information on their prior clinical experience. To test the hypotheses the multi-level growth model for repeated measures was employed. Results: Experienced therapists, on average, scored higher on FIS assessment than master’s students. The analyses of individual FIS domains revealed that the therapists performed significantly better on the 5 out of 8 FIS domains. Conclusions: Results were consistent with the hypothesis that the FIS assessment is dependent on one’s level of experience. The results imply that interpersonal skills can be modified through training or over the course of a therapeutic career. Conceptual and practical considerations of the findings are discussed.Show less
