Objective: The aims were to describe and develop a measure of the concept of the active self as self-direction and to assess the extent to which clients in a mental healthcare setting were becoming self-directive instead of being directed by their therapist.Methods: A panel of experts was formed to discuss the concept self-direction and to formulate a tentative model of self-direction. An initial questionnaire was constructed. A cross-section of clients completed the questionnaire to evaluate its validity and reliability with exploratory factor analysis.Results: A 31-item questionnaire was constructed that included six factors that measured actorship, commitment, demoralization, readiness, understanding, and monitoring progress and two broader underlying factors called gaining control and loss of control. Conclusion:The developed questionnaire measures the degree to which people are experiencing self-direction in their lives, and their capability of solving their problems.

Introduction: The present study sought a better understanding of the sources of client-perceived quality of the working alliance. Methods: At the end of psychotherapy sessions 3 and 5, 60 outpatient clients completed the Working Alliance Inventory-client form (WAI-c) and the Counselor Rating Form (CRF) measuring perceived therapists’ social power. At the same time, therapists estimated their clients’ WAI-c ratings (WAI-c-t). Also, frequency/duration of seven video-recorded positive nonverbal therapist behaviors in session 3 were coded. Results: WAI-c correlations with CRF were high (rs = .62 and .81) and WAI-c-moderate was (rs = .33 and .49). Nonverbal therapist codes, jointly (p = .64) and separately (ρs ≤ .14), were unrelated to WAI-c ratings, with the exception of Forward lean frequency (ρ = .29). Discussion: Client-perceived quality of the working alliance relates to therapists coming across as attractive, skilled, and trustworthy rather than to their actual positive nonverbal behavior.