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Objectives The present study examined the associations between pretreatment role expectations, working alliance, and therapy outcome. A mediational model was hypothesized wherein the therapeutic alliance mediates the relationship between clients' pretreatment role expectations and psychotherapy outcome. Method Sixty-eight clients completed the Expectations About Counseling-Brief Form at pretreatment, the Working Alliance Inventory-Short Form Revised after Session 3, and the Outcome Questionairre-45 at both pretreatment and the final session. Results All 3 expectations factors (Personal Commitment, Facilitative Conditions, Counselor Expertise) were related to the alliance. However, only expectations for Counselor Expertise were related to outcome, although this relationship did not appear to be mediated by the alliance. Conclusions Suggested research directions, clinical implications, and study limitations are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Successful psychotherapy with rural fundamentalist Christians requires psychologists to understand the clients' culture and worldview. They often rely heavily on religious authorities, interpret Scriptures literally, adhere to strict moral codes of behavior, and believe that they should evangelize those around them. Common therapeutic challenges include: spiritualizing problems, relational conflicts related to gender role expectations, addiction problems, and the religious agendas of family and clergy. We recommend that psychotherapists evaluate their own attitudes, collaborate with community gatekeepers, sensitively address clients' rigid beliefs, address religious differences, and take a holistic approach to treatment. A case example illustrates this approach. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Psychol: In Session 66:1–11, 2010. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on a study which examines the gaps between role expectations and perceived reality of therapists and clients in therapy. One hundred and forty-seven therapy sessions were studied. The Role Expectation and Preference Questionnaire was designed to assess therapists' and clients' role expectations, preferences, and perceptions of what happened in the therapy sessions. In the first sessions the difference between expectations and perceived reality was higher for clients than for therapists. Expectations were significantly higher than perceived reality. Expectations may be viewed as indicating the potential for certain behaviors.

This article presents a study of discrepancies between therapists' role preferences and role expectations. Preferences signify those aspects of role behavior that a person values. A specific aspect may be rewarding in itself, e.g., a person may value getting support in an interaction because it directly alleviates his or her distress. In other cases, the specific role aspect may be valued because it is perceived as instrumental to the attainment of a more distant goal. This study focuses on the structure of the relationships between preferences and expectations as a necessary preliminary step toward understanding the effects of the preferences-expectations gap. The first hypothesis is that therapists do experience significant discrepancies between what they prefer and what they expect in the therapeutic encounter.

The article focuses on the empirical evidence for the well-meaning liberal male. The growing literature on the psychology of women has begun to address the phenomenon of the well-meaning liberal male. Although some writers have suggested the well-meaning liberal male as a major impediment to the social liberation of women in American society, few empirical data are available to evaluate this concept. The present study evaluates the effects of a film that portrays the problems encountered by a girl who is attempting to engage in activities that are counter to traditional sex-role expectations on self-report measures of hostility, anxiety, and depression.

Therapists' expectations with regard to in-therapy behavior of hospitalized patients were measured and factor analyzed. Five interpretable factors emerged and supported the conclusion that therapists' role expectations for patients complement patients' role expectations for therapists. Mean scores on the factors were independent of therapists' experience and professional training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses sex role expectations and criteria of social adjustment for young adults. Forty-nine adult informants from a rural county in southwestern Minnesota were interviewed as part of the validation phase of a study in the prediction of adjustment. The intent was to obtain data for a group of subjects enrolled in the county schools from four to six years prior to the interview and for whom predictions of adult adjustment, based upon psychological instruments and teacher' ratings, had been made. The inform ants were from a variety of occupational groups including clergymen, physicians, gas station attendants, salesmen etc.