We examined therapist response modes in 127 sessions of eight cases of brief psychotherapy with experienced therapists and anxious-depressed clients. Response modes had a significant effect on immediate outcome, with self-disclosure, interpretation, approval, and paraphrase being the most helpful response modes. Therapist response modes were then examined in conjunction with therapist intentions and client experiencing in the previous speaking turn, both of which accounted for more of the variance in immediate outcome than did response modes. Large individual differences were found in frequency of use and effectiveness of the response modes for different clients.

Form (WAI-T). All measures had high internal consistency. Observers were able to reach high levels of interrater reliability on all the observer-rated measures (CALPAS, Penn, VTAS, and WAI-O). Evidence of construct validitywas found for the CALPAS, VTAS, and WAI-O, given that they were all highly correlated with each other. Future researchers might use these measures for investigating working alliance.

We developed a measure of client reactions to therapist interventions. The 21 categories of the measure were divided into 14 positive and 7 negative reactions, which differed significantly from each other on client helpfulness ratings. Preliminary validity data indicated that therapist intentions were related to client reactions more for successful cases than unsuccessful cases, pretreatment symptomatology was highly predictive of which reactions the clients reported, there were some predictable changes in reactions across time in treatment, and within-case correlations of reactions with client-rated session depth and smoothness indicated some similarities across cases. We discuss the case-specific nature of client reactions, methodological issues, and the need for greater therapist awareness of client reactions.

This study examined the relationship of dissociation at the time of trauma, as assessed by the Peritraumatic Dissociation Experiences Questionnaire, Rater Version (PDEQ-RV; C.R. Marmar, D.S. Weiss, & T.J. Metzler, in press), and posttraumatic stress symptoms in a group of 77 female Vietnam theater veterans. PDEQ-RV ratings were found to be associated strongly with posttraumatic stress symptomatology, as measured by the Impact of Event Scale (M.J. Horowitz, N. Wilner, & W. Alvarez, 1979), and also positively associated with level of stress exposure and general dissociative tendencies, measured by the Dissociative Experiences Scale. The PDEQ-RV was unassociated with general psychiatric symptomatology, as assessed by the clinical scales of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (J.N. Butcher, W.G. Dahlstrom, J.R. Graham, A. Tellegen, & B. Kaemmer, 1989). The PDEQ-RV was predictive of posttraumatic stress symptoms beyond the contributions of level of stress exposure and general dissociative tendencies. The findings provide further support for the reliability and validity of the PDEQ-RV as a measure of peritraumatic dissociation.

Therapist techniques are generally regarded as an important component of effective counseling and psychotherapy. The most common method of operationalizing therapist techniques has been through response modes (e.g.