Therapist-Specific Factors and Psychotherapy Outcomes of Adult and Youth Clients Seen in a Psychology Training Clinic

Abstract

The current study investigated therapist demographic and level of experience in relation to psychotherapy outcomes for adult and child clients. The OQ-45 and Y-OQ 2.01 were used to assess outcomes for 199 adults and 169 youth clients seen for psychotherapy by graduate-level student therapists. Analyses included calculation of Pearson correlation coefficients for each therapist-specific factors (e.g., therapist age, sex) and total score change amount on the OQ-45/Y-OQ 2.01 by treatment outcome subgroup (e.g., clinically significant change, reliable improvement, no change, or deterioration). For adults, a statistically significant relationship was found between improved outcomes and therapist having previously obtained clinical master's degree (r = 0.276, p < .05) as well as female therapist gender (r = -0.295, p < .05). For youth, no statistically significant correlations were observed. Current findings are compared to nontraining settings and implications for student therapist training and training clinic policy are reviewed.

Keywords: Psychotherapy outcomes; Therapist ethnicity; Therapist gender; Therapist level of trainng.