Identity Negotiation in Psychotherapy: The Influence of Diagnostic and Rapport-building Strategies on the Effects of Clinical Expectations

Abstract

In therapy, the expectations or hypotheses that therapists have of their clients, and the therapeutic strategies they employ with them, could influence identity negotiation processes. In the current study, 38 postgraduate therapist trainees interacted with 72 undergraduate clients in audiotaped counseling sessions. Therapists were led to expect that their clients were depressed or were given no expectation, and were asked to employ either diagnosis or rapport building with their clients. Therapists with expectations of client depression elicited similar levels of depressed behavior in their clients during diagnosis and rapport building as well as when they had no expectation and diagnosed their clients. Therapists focused on rapport building without an expectation elicited significantly less depressed behavior from their clients. Both applied and theoretical implications are discussed.