Predictors of Client Attrition in a University‐Based Community Counseling Clinic

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate how symptom distress, social role, interpersonal relationships, gender, age, number of supports, and education level predict client attrition in a community sample. Using binary logistic regression and cross‐sectional data, the authors examined the predictive impact of 8 variables on adult client attrition in a university‐based community counseling clinic. Results indicated that education level, interpersonal relationships, and number of supports significantly predicted attrition. In this sample, gender, age, symptom distress, social role, and race did not significantly predict attrition. Implications for clinical assessment and counseling practice are discussed.

Rapid transition from in‐person to videoconferencing psychotherapy in a counselor training clinic: A safety and feasibility study during the COVID‐19 pandemic

“…First, the rate of PT is known to vary widely across treatment settings with estimates ranging anywhere from 0 to 74.2% (Swift & Greenberg, 2012 ). Also, data specific to PT in counselor training clinics are rarely published in professional journals and, when such data are available, researchers tend to operationalize PT using different classification criteria including therapist‐determination or the missed last session method (Harris et al., 2020 ; Lampropoulos et al., 2009 ). To ensure comparability across studies, it is critical for researchers to thoroughly describe how PT was measured.…”

Couple variables predicting retention in a brief intervention and research

“…Research on racial identity as a predictor of retention in therapy has mixed findings. Some studies have not found the race to be a predictor of retention in psychotherapy (Harris et al, 2020;Swift & Greenberg, 2012) or couple therapy (Fischer et al, 2018), whereas others have found that racially minoritized participants are less likely to be retained in individual psychotherapy baseline (6 months only). These findings are discussed with relevance to clinicians and researchers to recruit and retain more diverse and marginalized participants in couple interventions and follow-up research.…”

“…Research on racial identity as a predictor of retention in therapy has mixed findings. Some studies have not found the race to be a predictor of retention in psychotherapy (Harris et al, 2020; Swift & Greenberg, 2012) or couple therapy (Fischer et al, 2018), whereas others have found that racially minoritized participants are less likely to be retained in individual psychotherapy (Cooper & Conklin, 2015) and treatment programs (Fortuna et al, 2010; McClendon et al, 2020). Williams et al (2005) found that Black American clients were less likely to be retained than European American clients, but only when clients were female and made less than $10,000 per year.…”

Intent and impact: Connecting multicultural and social justice counselor training to community client experiences

“…In a qualitative study of client experiences of counselor multicultural competence, Pope-Davis et al (2002) found that the ways in which clients perceived power in the counseling relationship played a role in how much they disclosed to their counselor and how they recovered from the counselor cultural errors in the sessions. More recently, Harris et al (2020) investigated the predictors of attrition in a university-based community counseling clinic. Education level, interpersonal relationships, and number of supports significantly predicted attrition, while gender, age, symptom distress, social role, and race did not (Harris, 2020).…”