The therapist's characteristic which has received the most research attention over the past 25 years is the A-B therapist variable (4, 5 ) . They labeled certain therapists who were most successful working with schizophrenic patients A therapists and those least successful as B therapists. A therapists were characterized as being active, showing personal participation and having an ability to establish a trusting relationship in therapy. B therapists were said to show passive permissiveness, the use of inrerpretarion, and an instructional style. The present research was an attempt to understand the A-B therapist distinction from a Transactional Analysis ego-state point of view ( 3 ) . Subjects were 4 8 graduate students in an APA-approved clinical and an APA-approved counseling program. A-B status was determined by scores on the 46-item improved A-B scale ( 2 ) with scores above the median designating A type. The Gough Adjective Check List was scored according to procedures described by Thorne and Faro ( 3 ) to measure verbal descriptions of eight ego states. They are listed here with examples from their adjective scales: Free Child (curious, natural), positive Adapted Child (civilized, cautious), negarive Adapted Child (moody, forgetful), Adult (logical, organized), positive Nurturant Parent (helpful, understanding), negative Nurturant Parent (softhearted, unrealistic), positive Critical Parent (assertive, determined), and neg3rlve Critical Parent (bossy, demanding). A sex x type of therapist analysis of varlancc for each of these ego state scores resulted in two significant effects: A types scored at about the 60th percentile ( M 5.23, SD 5.83) on negative Adapted Child, while B types ( M 3 6 , SD 4.12) scored at approximately the 17th percentile ( R . u = 8.33, f i < .01). A types scored at the 61sr percentile on negative Nurturant Parent ( M 10.95, SD 3.49) while B rypes ( M 8.89, SD 3.57) scored at the 40th percentile (FI ,~ , = 5.95, fi < .O5). These ego states are the ones Thorne and Faro ( 3 ) said to be most highly related to pathology o n the hIhfPI. Since these ego state scores for our A therapists were elevated but nor extreme, they may indicate A types have a sensitivity co some inner turmoil of their own which makes them more able to emparhetically respond to the schizophrenic's disturbed behavior and perception. An explanation along these lines has been suggested ( 1 ) . However, from a Transactional Analysis point of view, the ego-state constellation of high negative Nurturant Parent and high negative Adapted Child suggests A types are likely to be rescuers who are overly supportive and do more for their patients than is useful or therapeutic in the long run. These results raise a question about the therapeutic effectiveness of A therapists. This point of view is consistent with prior work ( 2 ) showing, although A-B may be related to short-term improvernenr, there is little evidence that A types are likely to have a favorable long-range impact on schizophrenics.