The Effects of Matching Process Rationale with Client Expectations on Client Perceptions

Abstract

The aim of this analogue study was to experimentally manipulate the match between psychotherapist presentation of change mechanisms when presenting a treatment rationale with participant mechanism expectations to examine the impact of matching on therapy perceptions. Participants viewed a video of a therapist presenting a treatment rationale and were randomized to hear a change rationale that either matched, did not match, or remained neutral relative to their expectations. Participants then completed measures of therapy perceptions. A series of one-way ANOVA tests were conducted to compare differences across process measures between groups. Results suggested that presentation of a change mechanism may improve some perceptions of the therapy, regardless of whether it matched expectations, but only when there is accurate recall of the change mechanism.