The Relationship Between Therapist Epistemology, Therapy Style, Working Alliance, and Interventions Use

Abstract

The current study examines the relationship of therapist epistemic style and therapeutic method, emphasis on working alliance, and use of specific interventions. The study’s aim was to discover if epistemological approach could predict therapist report of therapy practice. The most robust finding of this study provides provisional support for the notion that there are specific differences in therapist’s personal styles related to epistemic assumptions (rationalist vs. constructivist). Additionally, we found that therapists’ epistemological viewpoints were a significant predictor of their emphasis on the working alliance (bond subscale), as well as their use of specific interventions (cognitive behavioral vs. constructivist). The current study extends the developing literature investigating the translation of epistemology in to practice, specifically looking at therapists’ self-reports. Further work is needed to see if client reports corroborate therapists’ self-report and to investigate whether or not therapists’ epistemology affects the outcome of therapy work.