The Role of Subjective Well-Being in Therapist Responsiveness and Session Evaluation: A 10-Wave Longitudinal Study

Our study examined the dynamics of the therapist responsiveness (TR) as well as session evaluation by the therapist (SET) with regard to weekly fluctuations in their subjective well-being (SWB: satisfaction with life and positive/negative affect) in a 10-week prospective framework while controlling for sociodemographic and work-related variables. In all, 296 therapists participated in this longitudinal study. The participants filled, after the session with a client chosen for the study period, the Patients' Experience of Attunement and Responsiveness Scale-Therapist Version, the Session Evaluation Questionnaire and the Satisfaction With Life Scale (with the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule) each week. Generalised estimating equations showed that better SWB of therapists was related to almost all the studied dimensions of TR and SET in the sessions during the period of observation. We also noticed significant differences in these associations when we analysed sociodemographic and work-related variables. The findings call for a greater focus on the psychological well-being of therapists, which may be linked to the quality of their work with the clients. The therapist's individual characteristics should be taken more into account in studies on the mechanisms of change in psychotherapy research.