positive responses from others. A therapist should
be able to work with elegant effectiveness regardless
of her or his positive or negative reactions to the
patient. As we saw earlier, however, therapists are
far from perfect creatures; they are indeed affected
by the personal qualities of other persons. Fortu-
nately, the understanding and self-control of thera-
pists in their professional relations with patients
exceed the understanding and self-control of
many laypersons in their social and interpersonal
relationships. Nevertheless, there is some evidence
to suggest that patients who receive higher global
ratings of attractiveness (e.g., Nash et al., 1965) or
to whom the therapist can relate better (e.g., Isaacs
& Haggard, 1966) tend to have better outcomes in
therapy (Garfield, 1994). Also, in at least one study,
therapists were less inclined to treat hypothetical
patients whom they did not like as compared to
those they liked (Lehman & Salovey, 1990).The Therapist
It will hardly come as a shock to learn that certain
therapist characteristics may affect the process of
therapy. Having a specific theoretical or therapeutic
orientation does not override the role of personality,
warmth, or sensitivity. Even Freud recognized
the potential effects of the psychoanalyst’s personality
on the process of psychoanalysis. To “prevent”
such personal factors from affecting the process, he- Definition of“Therapist.”It is important to
understand the client’s definition of the term
therapist. The term may be equated with
“physician,”“medicine man/woman,”or“folk
healer.”Therefore, it may be necessary to modify
unwarranted expectations.Clinical Psychologists must be prepared to assess and treat individuals from a number of
different cultural backgrounds.Jim West/PhotoEditPSYCHOLOGICAL INTERVENTIONS 325