Clients’ Hope for Counseling as a Predictor of Outcome in Psychotherapy

Bibliographic Data

ID8912839
AuthorsT T Bartholomew (0000-0002-1979-5689, Scripps College, Claremont, CA, USA, corresponding author), Eileen E Joy (0000-0001-8546-0599, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA), Brittany E Gundel (Kaiser Permanente Vallejo Medical Center, Vallejo, CA, USA)
Year2021
Volume49
Issue8
Pages1126-1146
Publication date2021-08-11
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Counseling Psychologist (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0011-0000 • E-ISSN: 1552-3861
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/00110000211033255
OpenAlexW3192669033
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited35

Researchers have demonstrated links between general hope and symptoms of distress. Findings like these are important given the conceptual role of hope in psychotherapy theories like Frank and Frank’s contextual model. Existing literature, however, has involved researchers employing general hope measures despite hope being variable across domains rather than a general trait. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships between hope for counseling and clients’ outcomes as well as the working alliance. Self-report data were collected from 103 clients in a doctoral training clinic. Evidence (from multilevel modeling) demonstrated that increases in working alliance predict increases in hope for counseling over the course of treatment and that increases in hope for counseling significantly predict decreases in distress over the course of counseling when working alliance and session number are controlled. We discuss implications for clinical practice and positively-oriented work in counseling psychology

Alliance · Counseling psychology · Distress · Psychotherapist · Session (web analytics · Trait · Clinical Psychology · Optimism, Hope, and Well-being · Psychological Treatments and Assessments · Psychology · Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology

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