Improvement Ratings by External Judges and Psychotherapists

Abstract

Short (10 co 30 min.) pre- and posc-therapy typescripts of 24 University Mental Hygiene Clinic clients were used. These students were seen by eight therapiscs, each carrying three cases. A trained interviewer conducted both the pre- and post-interviews, the interviews being conducted approximately three and one-half months after the beginning of psychotherapy. Typescripts were submitted to two highly experienced clinicians who quartiled the cases according to improvement in the student's ability to cope with his own life, to resolve those problems which are most irnportanc to him. A third judge decided disagreements. Judges worked blindly with only pre and post typescripcs. Each psychotherapist independently quartiled his own three cases in terms of his experience with cther clients. The psychotherapists varied greatly on such dimensions as age, professional experience, activity, interpreciveness, and incer- nal-external orientation to life. The two primary external judges differed theo- retically in that one is a Jungian, the other a Personal Construct theorist. Structure of intake intmvtew.-The interviewer described the functions of the Mencal Hygiene Clinic and the general nature of the research project. Then he covered the following topics: The problem (s) as the client sees thm: How well does the client describe them? What relationships does he see between different aspects of his life? Does he perceive any background causes of rhe present problem(s), even though he may be uncertain about them? Can he report a specific episode which recently occurred which is relevant to his prob- lem(~) ? Everyday functioning: How is he performing academically? Does he see any correlates to his academic difficulties? How does he relate to his friends and peer group? What is the nature of his dorm and dating relationships? Is he aware of the feelings of his friends? Is he sensitive to them? How does he per- - ceive them? How does he relate to his superiors and to his family? How com- fortable does he feel in relationship to his superiors and family? Can he com- municate with them and in what manner? What is the nature of his dependency