Therapists' Perceptions of the Psychotherapeutic Process: Development of a Psychotherapy Process Inventory

Abstract

A psychotherapeutic process inventory of 74 items rated by therapists over an “average” of a series of therapy sessions was developed. Following initial determination of the inventory's reliability, the ratings of 99 patients were factor analyzed. The analysis yielded four meaningful psychotherapeutic process factors, characterized as therapeutic participation, resistance, directive support, and dysphoric concerns. Factor scores were highly reliable and were significantly related to individual differences among therapists, sex differences among patients, outcome of treatment, and pre-treatment MMPI scores.