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Do early responders to psychotherapy maintain treatment gains?
Author(s) -
Haas Eric,
Hill Robert D.,
Lambert Michael J.,
Morrell Barbara
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
journal of clinical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.124
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1097-4679
pISSN - 0021-9762
DOI - 10.1002/jclp.10044
Subject(s) - psychology , psychotherapist , psychological intervention , clinical psychology , distress , session (web analytics) , psychiatry , world wide web , computer science
This study examined early positive response to psychotherapy in a sample of 147 college student clients seeking therapy at a university counseling center. Early response was determined based on a score representing the difference between client‐obtained symptom distress session scores and expected scores derived from a large actuarial study of typical treatment response. In the present study, early positive response to therapy was associated with fewer psychological symptoms at therapy termination and follow‐up and maintenance of therapy gains. These results are discussed in relation to placebo effects and common factors and their primary importance in producing meaningful change. Future research directions are recommended that include the use of early response for exploring the contribution of client variables and theoretically derived interventions as they relate to the outcome of psychotherapy. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Psychol 58: 1157–1172, 2002.