title: A prospective study of therapist facilitative interpersonal skills as a predictor of treatment outcome.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study examined whether therapists' facilitative interpersonal skills (FIS) would prospectively predict the outcomes of therapies that occurred more than one year later.
  
  
  METHODS
  Therapists were 44 clinical psychology trainees who completed the FIS performance task and a self-reported measure of social skills in the initial weeks of their training. In the FIS task, prospective therapists were presented with a standard set of videos portraying clients in therapy. Verbal responses to these therapeutic simulations were recorded and then rated by trained coders. More than one year later, the therapists began providing psychotherapy to clients in a psychology clinic. Clients completed a symptom measure before each therapy session.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Using multilevel modeling, it was found that therapist FIS significantly predicted client symptom change. That is, higher FIS therapists were more effective than lower FIS therapists. However, subsequent analyses showed that this FIS effect was not uniform across all therapy durations; specifically, higher FIS therapists were more effective than lower FIS therapists over shorter durations (e.g., ≤8 sessions) but did not differ from lower FIS therapists in effectiveness for the small percentage of therapies that were longer-term (e.g., >16 sessions).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Therapists' interpersonal characteristics may influence client progress in therapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Ohio University.
authors.forename: Timothy
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-7224-2728
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Anderson
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Ohio University.
authors.forename: Andrew S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: McClintock
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Ohio University.
authors.forename: Lina
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Himawan
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Ohio University.
authors.forename: Xiaoxia
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: Psychiatric & Psychological Associates of Durham.
authors.forename: Candace L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Patterson
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002605:Character; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D010043:Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011613:Psychotherapy / Q000193:education / Q000379:methods*; D066107:Social Skills; D055815:Young Adult