Factors Related to the Performance of Psychotherapists during Training

Abstract

The study reported here was undertaken to gain an understanding of the manner in which the selection board for prospective students in clinical psychology used certain variables; to determine whether predictors based upon a theoretical selection model were associated with performance during training; and to assess whether the trainees' levels of the core conditions of psychotherapy changed significantly in the direction of those of their trainers. Only 25,8% of the variance on a select-reject criterion could be explained by means of the predictors. There was some evidence that the variables used were predictive of subsequent performance and the findings were interpreted as shedding some light on the complexity of the demands made upon trainee psychotherapists. The students showed significant gains in non-possessive warmth, empathy, and genuineness after 18 months of training and their rated levels on these variables approximated those of their trainers.