The characteristics, preferences and personality variables of the people who seek psychotherapeutic help are important in order to choose the best intervention. For this reason, in this article we are going to expose some of them. Discover them!
Why do people improve in psychotherapy? Different disciplines, such as psychiatry or psychology, have tried to answer this question. Currently, it is known that there are certain characteristics of the client that influence the success of psychological treatments. Do you give importance to spirituality? What is your coping style? Would you be willing to be “active” in your therapeutic process? Tell me how you are and I’ll tell you what therapy you need.
Up to 33% of the total therapeutic change of people who attend psychotherapy is due to what Lambert (2019) called “extra-therapeutic factors”. These factors include those associated with the client/client/patient and her vital history, which is understandable if we take into account that it is the client who initiates the change process.
“If the client doesn’t absorb, use, and follow through with the therapist’s facilitation efforts, then nothing happens.”
-Bergin-
Characteristics of the consultant
The range of characteristics that have been proposed to select one type of therapy or another is wide and heterogeneous. For this reason, we are going to focus on some in particular. In order to carry out a good therapeutic process, it is necessary to include the characteristics, perceptions and preferences of the client, with the aim of personalize maximum therapy.
“As therapists have become more adapted to the client’s resources, more changes seem to be taking place.”
-Bergin-
1. Level of functionality
A minimal level of functionality is identified as a factor that complicates the prognosis of psychotherapy. Aspects, such as the depth of the limitations imposed by the clinical entity, are related to a worse prognosis, and vice versa.
However, the opposite occurs in the child population: when the severity of behavior problems is greater, the effectiveness of parental training programs is also higher.
From the above, in relation to adults, it is easy to deduce that the cases in which the person’s life is more compromised are also the ones that will need more sessions. On the other hand, when the premorbid level of functioning is very low, directive therapies aimed at increasing it are highly beneficial. Among these, it is worth mentioning the intervention through behavioral activation.
2. Preferences
Preferences refer to the activities and psychotherapy conditions with which the client feels most comfortable.. There are various instruments, such as the C-NIP (The Cooper-Norcross Inventory of Preferences) that facilitate the evaluation of the consultant’s preferences. Among them, keep in mind when choosing a psychotherapist aspects such as the following:
- Activity Preferences: They are the tasks to be carried out throughout the treatment, the objectives that you would like to achieve and what is the number, duration and frequency of the sessions that you think you would like to have. Thus, it would be convenient to agree on these preferences with the therapist you have chosen.
- Psychotherapist preferences: You’ll probably feel more comfortable being seen by a therapist of a certain gender. This is normal and should be taken into account. The degree of directivity is also important, which refers to the specific script that the therapy follows. For example, cognitive-behavioral therapy is generally very directive. This happens because the sessions are very prepared, the therapist exerts more influence and more ‘homework’ is sent between sessions. On the contrary, psychoanalysis is not very directive.
Certain client preferences can be detrimental. When this happens, the therapist will be able to advise you on the best modality of intervention in your case.
“For example, a client with social phobia might prefer to attend individual treatment sessions despite hoping that group treatment would be more effective for their problem.”
-Fonseca-
3. Spirituality and religiosity
The scientific literature supports the relationship between the spirituality/religiosity and physical and mental health. This occurs because, among other things, provides a sense of belonging, connection and support. It is possible that you can propose “adaptations” so that the therapist takes religiosity and spirituality into account, especially if these represent a core aspect of your identity.
In addition, it has been seen that when the treatments accommodate this characteristic of the client, the results are as effective as the “lay” approaches.
“When treatment is tailored to clients’ religious and spiritual preferences, clients appear to benefit more from treatment.”
-Castonguay-
4. Coping style
For Beutler, coping style is a personality trait. It drives the person to behave in a certain way in order to adapt to changing and uncontrollable environments, to reduce the discomfort that may be experienced. Thus, two coping styles can be differentiated: the internalizing and the externalizing.
People with an externalizing coping style are characterized by being impulsive, sociable, and showing a marked tendency to delegate their responsibilities to others. In addition, this style has been linked to substance use or antisocial personality disorder.
On the other hand, the internalizing coping style focuses on low impulsivity, rumination, and a high need for control. This coping style has been linked to generalized anxiety disorder, OCDdepression or social anxiety.
- If your coping style is of the externalizing type, you will probably tend to “avoid” or “escape” from stressful situations. If you have ever faced them, you may have blamed others or your environment for your discomfort.
- If your coping style is internalizing, you are likely to tend to cope with change and threats, and if you fail, you may blame yourself for it.
Clients with externalizing coping styles benefit more from behavior modification therapies focused on symptom reduction. Among these we could highlight training in emotional regulation skills, problem solving or self-control training.
On the contrary, Clients with internalizing coping styles might benefit more from therapies that seek to foster insight or self-awareness. The characteristics that define these people are low impulsivity, rumination, high introspection and the need for control.
The intervention that benefits the most in these cases is the one that promotes understanding, self-reflection, comprehension, and interpersonal bonding. It will be important to look for a therapy that focuses on cognitive change and emotional expression, as is the case with cognitive therapy, or REBT.
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Tell me how you are and I will tell you what therapy you need