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Emphasis has frequently been given to the need for awareness and under-
standing of attitudes about psychotherapy and psychotherapists on the part of
actual and potential therapists, though documentation of such attitudes has been
limited. Recently, Daniels ( 1974) focused on the concerns of 152 psychiatrists
using 18 incomplete sentences as the measuring instrument. She hypothesized
that three major problems would be reported: Feelings of isolation, concern
about image or status and concern about effectiveness of treatment. She also
thought there would be a difference between private and organizational psychia-
trists in regard to these problem areas. In order of greatest frequency the five
major themes that emerged were negative personal characteristics of colleagues,
personal strains caused by the work, status and image problems, isolation, and
worry about the effectiveness of treatment. Contrary to expectations, no themes
differentiated between the two types of psychiatrjsts, and effectiveness of treat-
ment was the least frequently mentioned of the five themes.
The present study expanded the area of coverage from a discipline, psychia-
cry, to rhe area of practice, psychotherapy. The purpose was t o discover what
are the attitudes of potential psychotherapists regarding psychotherapy and
psychotherapists. Also, since the sample was composed of graduate students in
psychology, some comparison with practicing psychiatrists was possible.
METHOD
The attitudes were measured by a 20-item modification of the incomplete
sentences used by Daniels (1974). The differences from the Daniels' stems
consisted of substituting the words "psychotherapist" or "psychotherapy" for
"psychiatrist" or "psychiatry" and the addition of two items, Nos. 6 .and 19.
Otherwise the intent and language is the same as the original. These were
administered to 128 advanced graduate students in clinical and school psychology.
492 W. G.HERRON
There were 76 men and 52 women. Their average age was 28 yr., and 92 of
them were currently in therapy and 72 were currently doing psychotherapy.
All declared their intention of ultimately practicing psychotherapy. The average
amount of time they had been practicing was 1 yr., while their average time in
therapy was 2 yr. Thus they were newcomers to the field, both in terms of being
therapists and patients. None were in private practice.
Each subject was required to answer all the items. Where more than one
idea was expressed, the first one only was counted in the tabulation. Every
item was then classified in terms of the themes expressed by the responses. In
the classification an attempt was made to establish general categories and so
limit the number of themes. Two raters were used, and where there was doubt,
a third so that the themes represent a consensus of judgment though some of
the subtlety of the responses has been lost. The items and the number of re-
sponses according to theme are presented below.
RESULTS
1. T h e most important thing for the future of psychotherqy . . .
Three themes appeared. The most frequent ( 5 2 ) was a concern with
getting better results, closely followed by improving training (40) and political
issues (36) as regulation of the field. These three themes are related and tend
to focus, both in training and political issues, on achieving good or better results
through psychotherapy than are gotten currently. These responses set a pattern
for what followed, a consistent concern about effectiveness.
2. A psychotherapist shozlld be careful . . .
Three themes appeared. By far the most prevalent was a concern for
therapists' personality characteristics (80) which would interfere with effective
therapy. Then, there was mention ( 3 2 ) of correct application of theory as well
as possible problems presented by some patients (16). The therapist was most
often cautioned against "countertransference" and the three themes again re-
lated to achieving effective results.
3. Most patients think of the psychoth,~ rp'aat a s . . .
Four themes occurred. The major one (84) was the belief chat most pa-
tients see their therapist as a powerful helper, followed by a warm friend ( 2 8 )
and a parent (12, and interestingly never a mother specifically). Four people
had the minority theme of the therapist as "weird," but the overwhelming image
was positive. While these images are distinct, they would not have to be ex-
clusive of each other. The frequent mention of the powerful helper theme
reiterated the concern with results.
4. Compared to what I thought a career in psychotherqy would be like, I hnue
found o u t . . .
Four themes appeared. The first was that the career was harder, more
complicated than expected ( 4 8 ) , followed by it being better than expected ( 4 4 ) ,
IMPRESSIONS OF THERAPY/THERAPISTS 493
were not even working in the field as yet. Also the lack of negative feelings
about institutions and institutional work among the psychiatrists, and the
presence of such feelings among the psychologists, could reflect a better role in
institutions for psychiatrists. The psychologists appear to view such work as
a temporary situation to be tolerated, until a private practice is established,
while the psychiatrists may see it more as an integrated part of their permanent
occupacional situation.
Several issues in regard to the perception of the therapist bear further in-
vestigation. One is the degree of power a therapist actually has and what are
the ingredients of this power, for here the frequent image of the therapist is as
"the powerful helper." Then, there is the sexual role assigned to the therapist.
When given a sexual identity, it is always male. This may be cultural stereo-
typing or the fact that there are more male than female therapists in the field.
Another possibility is an unexplained but consistent tendency to see therapists
as males regardless of the sex of the client or therapist.
Another concern is the degree of congruence between the role of the
psychologist, which is the students' pathway to work, and the role of the psycho-
therapist, which is the desired specialty. The effectiveness of the psychologist
is thought to rest upon intellectual and research capabilities, while the stress in
regard to therapists' effectiveness is on personality characteristics. This creates
the possibility of dissonance which results, in my opinion, in many graduate
students in clinical and school psychology wanting more professional preparation
but enduring an academic atmosphere. A large part of what is desired, and
seems to be missing from current training, is ways for the student to learn about
his or her self and to apply this learning by interacting with clients.
Ac the same time there is an overwhelming concern about the effectiveness
of therapists and therapy, both obvious research questions that have been probed.
W e are not without research in thcse areas, but it is difficult to do considering
the number of variables involved. Consequently answers are often tentative
(though not always so stated). A further problem is that many if not most
practitioners do not bother with research in the formal sense, although they are
constantly seeking answers. My impression is that approaching the research
aspect of training in ways other than the usual (and I do not necessarily mean
developing more sophisticated designs or teasing out one more number) would
increase involvement by practitioners.
REFERENCES
A. K What troubles the trouble shooters. In P. M. Roman
DANIELS, & H. M. Trice
(Eds.), The sociology of psychotherapy. New York: Aronson, 1974. Pp. 191-214.
HEATON,R. K., CARR,J. E, & HAMPSON. J. L. A-B therapist characteri5tics vs. psy-
chotherapy outcome. Journal o f Nervous and Mental Disease, 1975, 160, 299-309.
HERRON,W. G. The power of psychotherapy: a reply to Hurvitz. Joimzul of Con-
sulting and Clinical Psychology, 1974, 4 2 , 298-300.
498 W. G. HERRON