title: Therapists' attributions for client premature termination: are they self-serving?
abstract: We conducted two studies of therapist responses to client premature termination from psychotherapy. In Study 1, we surveyed therapists' attributions for client premature termination from therapy using an open response format. Results suggested that therapists showed a self-serving pattern in their attributions (i.e., attributed causality to the client or environment) when considering their own clients compared to when they considered the premature terminations of clients in general. Study 2 was a vignette study in which therapists responded to one of two client presentations that varied relationship to client (your client vs. other's client). Using the attributional categories derived from Study 1, therapists rated the likelihood that each attribution caused the client's premature termination. Again, patterns across groups indicated that therapists are self-serving in their attributions for client premature termination. In addition, differences were found across gender and theoretical orientation; larger effects were found for men compared to women, and psychoanalytic therapists compared to cognitive-behavioral.
authors.affiliation: Division of Counseling and Educational Psychology, University of Missouri-Kansas City, MO 64110, USA. murdockn@umkc.edu
authors.forename: Nancy L
authors.initials: NL
authors.lastname: Murdock
authors.forename: Carla
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Edwards
authors.forename: Tamera B
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: Murdock
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy / Q000193:education; D003625:Data Collection; D003674:Defense Mechanisms; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008611:Mentors / Q000193:education / Q000523:psychology; D010352:Patient Dropouts / Q000523:psychology*; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D011575:Psychoanalytic Therapy / Q000193:education; D012649:Self Concept; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires