Self-reported attachment styles and therapeutic orientation of therapists and their relationship with reported general alliance quality and problems in therapy

Psychol Psychother. 2005 Sep;78(Pt 3):363-77. doi: 10.1348/147608305X43784.

Abstract

The aims of this study were to explore the relationship between therapists' self-reported attachment styles and therapeutic orientation with the self-reported general therapeutic alliance and therapist-reported problems in psychological therapy.A sample of 491 psychotherapists from differing therapeutic orientations responded to a postal questionnaire. The questionnaire contained standardized measures of therapeutic alliance quality, attachment behaviours, a checklist of problems in therapy, and a brief personality inventory.Therapist-reported attachment styles generally explained a significant additional proportion of the variance in alliance and problems in therapy, over and above variance explained by general personality variables. Self-reported secure attachment style was significantly positively correlated with therapist-reported general good alliance. Self-reported anxious attachment styles were significantly negatively correlated with good alliance, and significantly positively correlated with the number of therapist-reported problems in therapy. Therapeutic orientation independently predicted a small but significant amount of the variance in reported general alliance quality in addition to that explained by attachment behaviours.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Anxiety
  • Data Collection
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Interpersonal Relations
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Professional-Patient Relations*
  • Psychotherapy*
  • Treatment Outcome