Top
image credit: Adobe Stock

Patients believe in psychotherapy more when practitioners demonstrate warmth and competence

October 19, 2022

Therapy is a collaborative process informed not just by a practitioner’s expertise but also by the patient’s expectations about that expertise and how likely they are to benefit from it. Research in Clinical Psychological Science suggests that therapists who demonstrate both warmth and competence can shape those expectations by inspiring more positive beliefs about the effectiveness of therapy.

This behavioral guidance could be particularly helpful for improving expectation violation, a process through which patients with preexisting negative beliefs about therapy may learn to view treatment more positively said Anna Seewald, who co-authored this research with Winfried Rief (Philipps-University of Marburg).

Read More on ScienceDaily