Leveraging the Clinical Importance of the Therapist as a Person in Family Therapy

Abstract

ABSTRACT Many pioneering family therapists exuded exemplary personal characteristics that at many instances were incorporated into their clinical work and theoretical approaches to psychotherapy. While such therapist effects have been traditionally less researched compared with the vast literature on the efficacy of techniques, they are of increased empirical attention, especially given the common factors of psychotherapy change and related process research. To explicate these therapist effects, empirical studies within the fields of marriage and family therapy specifically and psychotherapy more broadly are reviewed concerning those personal characteristics that are linked to or are postulated to be associated with therapeutic success. Following a brief synthesis of this literature, two family therapy pioneers, Carl Whitaker and Salvador Minuchin, are reviewed, concerning their personality attributes and characteristics that were highlights of their approaches and their personal and professional lives. Following a comparison of these two therapists, the manuscript closes with reflections for future psychotherapy research, for training initiatives, and for clinicians.