Therapist facilitative interpersonal skills and training status: A randomized clinical trial on alliance and outcome

Anderson, Timothy; Crowley, Mary Ellen J.; Himawan, Lina K.; Holmberg, Jennifer K.; Uhlin, Bernt Eric

doi:10.1080/10503307.2015.1049671

Cited by 139 publications

(147 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…In addition, nonspecific elements—sometimes referred to as common factors (Barth et al 2011, Webb et al 2010)—were related to treatment effectiveness. These results are consistent with recent findings that showed among therapists in training, nonspecific skills (e.g., collaboration, empathy, and warmth) are independent contributors to patients’ outcomes (Anderson et al 2015), in particular for brief treatments (Anderson et al 2016). The competencies that providers need to deliver these nonspecific elements must be emphasized as a foundation for delivering psychological treatment.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Psychological Treatments for the World: Lessons from Low- and Middle-Income Countries

Singla

Kohrt

Murray

et al. 2017

Annu. Rev. Clin. Psychol.

658

509

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Common mental disorders, including depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress, are leading causes of disability worldwide. Treatment for these disorders is limited in low- and middle-income countries. This systematic review synthesizes the implementation processes and examines the effectiveness of psychological treatments for common mental disorders in adults delivered by nonspecialist providers in low- and middle-income countries. In total, 27 trials met the eligibility criteria; most treatments targeted depression or posttraumatic stress. Treatments were commonly delivered by community health workers or peers in primary care or community settings; they usually were delivered with fewer than 10 sessions over 2–3 months in an individual, face-to-face format. Treatments included common elements, such as nonspecific engagement and specific domains of behavioral, interpersonal, emotional, and cognitive elements. The pooled effect size was 0.49 (95% confidence interval = 0.36–0.62), favoring intervention conditions. Our review demonstrates that psychological treatments—comprising a parsimonious set of common elements and delivered by a low-cost, widely available human resource—have moderate to strong effects in reducing the burden of common mental disorders.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Psychological Treatments for the World: Lessons from Low- and Middle-Income Countries

Singla

Kohrt

Murray

et al. 2017

Annu. Rev. Clin. Psychol.

658

509

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This picture of little association between FIS and self-report scales was surprising, given the conceptual overlap and also given the findings of some previous studies (Anderson, Crowley et al, 2016;Anderson, McClintock et al, 2016). This picture of little association between FIS and self-report scales was surprising, given the conceptual overlap and also given the findings of some previous studies (Anderson, Crowley et al, 2016;Anderson, McClintock et al, 2016).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 85%

“…In a first study, Anderson, Ogles, Patterson, Lambert, and Vermeersch (2009) developed a set of brief video clips of difficult situations with clients and asked 25 therapists from a university counseling center to respond to each situation in a way clients might find helpful. Anderson, Crowley, Himawan, Holmberg, and Uhlin (2016) experimentally manipulated therapist FIS by screening high and low FIS therapists (graduate students in either clinical psychology or in nonpsychological areas) using the FIS performance test and self-assessed social skills. The mean of these ratings was referred to as therapist facilitative interpersonal skills (FIS).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For the FIS, Anderson et al (Anderson, Crowley et al, 2016;Anderson et al, 2009;Anderson, McClintock et al, 2016) reported on generally high internal consistency of FIS items, adequate levels of inter-rater agreement, and inconsistent relations with self-assessed social skills. For example, the FIS could be used to measure therapists' relational skills before and after trainings, such as AFT.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Facilitative interpersonal skills performance test: Psychometric analysis of a German language version

et al. 2019

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Objective This study aimed at a psychometric analysis of the Facilitative Interpersonal Skills (FIS) performance test, a test of therapist relational skills that has repeatedly been found to predict psychotherapy outcome. We investigated the reliability, unidimensionality, and convergent validity of a German language version and psychometrics relevant for repeated and short assessments. Method Thirty‐nine trainee therapists took the FIS performance test and responded to self‐report scales. Results Inter‐rater agreement and internal consistency were high. The findings suggest that the FIS is a unidimensional scale. Correlations between the FIS and self‐reported social skills, interpersonal problems, and working involvement were absent to low. FIS performance was independent from specific video stimuli and there was no indication of temporal effects. Conclusions The findings suggest that the FIS is robust and ready to be used in repeated assessments and in short form. Further conceptual clarification of the FIS is needed.

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“…Here we explored alliance, session depth, technique usage, and patient reports of feeling that the therapy overall was helpful. Expanding on previous research that has identified therapists' interpersonal skills as a strong predictor of patient outcome (e.g., Anderson, Crowley, Himawan, Holmberg, & Uhlin, 2016;Anderson et al, 2009), we found that as trainee FS increased, patients' perception of the helpfulness of the therapy as a whole significantly and robustly declined. Moreover, patient ratings of all facets of the alliance and session depth significantly decreased with moderate effects while amount of technique usage did not vary.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

You really are too kind: implications regarding friendly submissiveness in trainee therapists

Cain

Perkey

Widner³

et al. 2018

ResPsy

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To facilitate patient growth, therapists must immerse themselves in the patient’s world while also being able to see what is needed for change. This process requires finding a delicate balance between supporting and pushing patients. Therapists in training are additionally tasked with incorporating supervisors’ suggestions with their own views on what is needed to help their patients. Beginning therapists with tendencies to be overly accommodating may struggle to reconcile these competing demands. Thus, the aim of the present work is to explore how trainee friendly submissiveness (FS) interfaces with psychotherapy. Prior to training, clinical graduate trainee (n = 35) FS was assessed using the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems-32. Process and outcome data were then collected from each therapist’s first training case. Specifically, each trainee was assigned an undergraduate student volunteer with whom they had four non-manualized therapy sessions over the academic semester. After the third session, patients and trainees completed questionnaires assessing session impact and the working alliance, and two expert raters coded third session videotapes for techniques. Following termination, patients rated the overall helpfulness of the therapy. Trainee FS was significantly negatively associated with patient-rated depth, alliance, and overall helpfulness with moderate effects. Findings from a mediation analysis further suggested that trainees with higher FS struggled to focus the therapy in a way that felt productive to patients. Implications for clinical training are discussed.

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Therapist facilitative interpersonal skills and training status: A randomized clinical trial on alliance and outcome

Abstract: Results were consistent with the hypothesis that therapists' common relational skills are independent contributors to therapeutic alliance and outcome.

Cited by 139 publications

References 37 publications

Psychological Treatments for the World: Lessons from Low- and Middle-Income Countries

Psychological Treatments for the World: Lessons from Low- and Middle-Income Countries

Facilitative interpersonal skills performance test: Psychometric analysis of a German language version

You really are too kind: implications regarding friendly submissiveness in trainee therapists

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