Client Pre-Therapy Expectancies, Therapeutic Alliance and Therapeutic Outcome

Abstract

The relationship between client pre-therapy expectancies (CPE), the therapeutic alliance (TA), and clinical outcome was examined in individual psychotherapy clients. Prior to therapy clients indicated their expectations of therapeutic benefit. The TA was measured with the Working Alliance Inventory- Short Form (WAI-S; Tracey & Kokotovic, 1989). Clinical outcome was assessed at session 8 from scores on the Outcome Questionaire-45 (Lambert et aI., 1996). Correlational analyses revealed no relationship between CPEs and outcome. There was a weak relationship between CPEs and TA. Only client evaluations of TA were related to outcome. A regression analysis indicated that TA, client pre-therapy symptomology, and CPEs accounted for 32% of the outcome variance. Further analysis revealed that only the client's evaluation of TA and client symptomology contributed significantly to outcome variance.