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Psychotherapy remains as much an art as a science. Individuals who practice, or refer patients for, or are themselves seeking psychotherapy are keenly interested in what makes for effective treatment. To determine whether therapists' early consistency and effectiveness are associated with outcomes in later patients, investigators studied patient ratings of pre- versus posttherapy functioning at 30 university counseling centers.
The study included 27,778 clients (66% women; 52% white) who had a minimum of 3 sessions (mean, 10 sessions over 18 months) with 275 therapists, who could be counselors, psychologists, psychiatrists, or social workers (70% women; 74% white). Therapists had caseloads of at least 40 clients (mean, 71).
The investigators …