Outpatient clinic therapist attitudes and beliefs relevant to client dropout

One hundred and seventy-three psychotherapists from 43 Midwestern mental health clinics responded to a survey which addressed therapists' attitudes and beliefs on service delivery topics relevant to client premature therapy termination. Therapists' responses were contrasted with known client and service delivery data. Therapists preferred a treatment duration longer than that expected by clients, overestimated actual treatment length, underestimated actual dropout rates and cited dislike of therapy or the therapist less often than clients did as reasons for premature termination. Causes of therapists' overestimates of treatment length and continuance, and their relevance to the dropout problem, were discussed.