Abstract
Twenty women who received marital therapy and 11 women who received cognitive therapy for co-occurring depression and marital discord reported the most helpful aspects of therapy. The verbatim responses of clients were coded into 12 response categories, and the responses of clients in the two therapies were compared to assess whether they reported similar or different therapy factors as most helpful. Clients who received marital therapy reported that the most helpful aspects of therapy were relationship-focused or interpersonal, while clients who received cognitive therapy reported that the most helpful elements were intrapersonal. The client reports are discussed in relation to independent ratings of therapist behavior and the intended impact of the treatments.
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This research was supported in part by NIMH grant MH 38390. We thank Lawrence P. Riso for his aid in category assignment and Michele Cascardi, Jennifer Christian, and Lloyd Goldsamt for their judgments of therapist behaviors. Dr. Steven Beach and Dr. Evelyn Sandeen coordinated various aspects of the overall research project from which these data were obtained. We are grateful to Susan O'Leary for her editorial feedback.
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O'Leary, K.D., Rathus, J.H. Clients' perceptions of therapeutic helpfulness in cognitive and marital therapy for depression. Cogn Ther Res 17, 225–233 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01172947
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01172947