Predicting the Effectiveness of Therapists

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Supported by a grant from the Society for the Advancement of Psychotherapy, this study examines the correlates of therapist differences (i.e., therapist effects) in naturalistic psychotherapy.

The research includes an assessment of a variety of candidate therapist characteristics, including administering several non-self-report behavioral and performance tasks. These measures will be used to predict the outcomes of patients treated by these therapists in hopes of gaining insight regarding therapist factors that are associated with superior outcomes in psychotherapy that can be used to inform personnel selection and training.

People Working on This Study

Simon Goldberg

Core Faculty at the Center for Healthy Minds, Associate Professor of Counseling Psychology

Kevin M. Riordan

Graduate Student, Department of Counseling Psychology

Related Publications

Goldberg, S. B., Rousmaniere, T., Miller, S. D., Whipple, J., Nielsen, S. L., Hoyt, W. T., & Wampold, B. E. (2016). Do psychotherapists improve with time and experience? A longitudinal analysis of outcomes in a clinical setting. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 63(1), 1-11. doi:10.1037/cou0000131

Goldberg, S. B., Babins-Wagner, R., Rousmaniere, T., Berzins, S., Hoyt, W. T., Whipple, J .L., Miller, S. D., & Wampold, B. E. (2016). Creating a climate for therapist improvement: A case study of an agency focused on outcomes and deliberate practice. Psychotherapy, 53(3), 367-75. doi:10.1037/pst0000060

Goldberg, S. B., Hoyt, W. T., Nissen-Lie, H., Nielsen, S. L., & Wampold, B. E. (2018). Unpacking the therapist effect: Impact of treatment length differs for high- and low-performing therapists. Psychotherapy Research, 28(4), 532-44. doi:10.1080/10503307.2016.1216625

Schöttke, H., Flückiger, C., Goldberg, S. B., Eversmann, J., & Lange, J. (2017). Predicting psychotherapy outcome based on therapist interpersonal skills: A five-year longitudinal study of a therapist assessment protocol. Psychotherapy Research, 27(6), 642-52. doi:10.1080/10503307.2015.1125546

Goldberg, S. B., Flemotomos, N., Martinez, V. R., Tanana, M., Kuo, P., Pace, B. T.,…& Atkins, D. C. (2020). Machine learning and natural language processing in psychotherapy research: Alliance as example use case. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 67(4), 438-448. doi:10.1037/cou0000382. PMCID:PMC7393999

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