title: Relevance of therapy goals in outpatient cognitive-behavioral and psychodynamic psychotherapy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Against a background of sparse research and contradictory findings, the present study investigates determinants of psychotherapy goals and predictive value for therapy success in outpatient psychotherapy.
  
  
  METHODS
  The sample consisted of 473 patients from a university-based polyclinic and their corresponding 103 therapists. Goals were coded with the Bern Inventory of Treatment Goals (BIT-T).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results show that goal congruence between therapists and patients is relatively small. Theoretical orientation had a significant influence on the complexity of goal structure and goal preferences. With regard to the prognostic validity, only patients' problem- and symptom-focused goals enabled the prediction of treatment success independent of basic therapeutic variables.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings underline the importance of consideration of patients' individual treatment goals in clinical practice and underpin the relevance of therapy goals for future psychotherapy research.
authors: a Institut für Psychologie, Psychologie und Psychotherapie , Universität Osnabrück , Osnabrück , Germany.
authors: Henning
authors: H
authors: Schöttke
authors: Laura
authors: L
authors: Trame
authors: Anja
authors: A
authors: Sembill
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy / Q000592:standards*; D005260:Female; D006040:Goals; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010043:Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care; D010045:Outpatients; D064889:Psychotherapy, Psychodynamic / Q000592:standards*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
keywords: cognitive behavior psychotherapy; outcome research; psychoanalytic/psychodynamic psychotherapy; psychotherapy research; therapy goals