The relationship between level of adjustment and expectations for therapy

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Clinical Psychology
• Psychotherapy Research

Background:

• Goldstein's (1962) hypothesis proposed a curvilinear relationship between client expectancy and psychotherapy outcome.
• This hypothesis was partly informed by a similar relationship observed between client expectancy and adjustment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the validity of Goldstein's hypothesis regarding client expectancy and psychotherapy outcome.
• To examine the relationship between client expectancy, client adjustment, and therapy outcomes.

Main Methods:

• One hundred and ten new clients at a university counseling center participated.
• Clients completed self-assessments, and therapists rated client adjustment at therapy's start and end.

Main Results:

• No curvilinear relationship was found between client adjustment and expectancy.
• A linear relationship emerged between client expectancy and self-assessed psychotherapy outcome.
• No significant relationship was observed between client expectancy and therapist-defined outcome.

Conclusions:

• Client expectancy appears linearly related to self-perceived therapy outcomes.
• The lack of correlation with therapist ratings suggests method variance may explain client-reported expectancy-outcome links.