the therapist’s personality is a potent force, other
factors in combination largely determine therapy
outcomes. Second, research in this area has taken
a back seat as behavioral therapies have gained in
popularity. However, as behavior therapists attend
increasingly to factors other than techniques or
mechanics, it is likely that they will“rediscover”
the importance of therapist characteristics and
begin to integrate those characteristics into their
research and practice.
Is there a set of personality traits that the
“ideal” therapist should possess? Krasner (1963),
with tongue in cheek, suggested that the research
literature would depict the ideal therapist as
mature, well-adjusted, sympathetic, toler-
ant, patient, kindly, tactful, nonjudgmen-
tal, accepting, permissive, non-critical,
warm, likable, interested in human beings,
respectful, cherishing and working for a
democratic kind of interpersonal relation-
ship with all people, free of racial and
religious bigotry, having a worthwhile goal
in life, friendly, encouraging, optimistic,
strong, intelligent, wise, curious, creative,
artistic, scientifically oriented, competent,
trustworthy, a model for the patient to
follow, resourceful, emotionally sensitive,
self-aware, insightful of his own problems,
spontaneous, having a sense of humor,
feeling personally secure, mature about
sex, growing and maturing with life’s
experiences, having a high frustration tol-
erance, self-confident, relaxed, objective,
self-analytic, aware of his own prejudices,
non-obsequious, humble, skeptical but not
pessimistic or self-deprecatory...depend-
able, consistent, open, honest, frank,
technically sophisticated, professionally
dedicated, and charming. (pp. 16–17)
Certainly no human being, let alone a therapist,
could possibly possess all of these traits (even allow-
ing for overlap in terms). Therefore, as Goldstein,
Heller, and Sechrest (1966) point out, it is doubtful
whether the concept of the“ideal therapist”is very
useful. Any study that is confined to a single trait or a
small group of traits seems to make a great deal of
sense. Taking all the traits together makes the mes-
sage much less coherent.
Beutler et al. (1994, 2004) note that the influ-
ence of therapist personality traits on outcome has
not received adequate research attention. Of those
traits that have been studied, the greatest amount of
attention has focused on dominance/dogmatism,
locus of perceived control, and cognitive processing
style. General conclusions are difficult to draw,
however, because each of these variables appears
to affect outcome differentially depending on client
traits and type of therapy (Beutler et al., 1994,
2004). For example, Hall and Malony (1983)
reported that high levels of dominance in a therapist
resulted in better outcome in cases where the
therapist and client were culturally similar, but
low-dominance therapists were more effective
with culturally dissimilar clients.Empathy, Warmth, and Genuineness. Swenson
(1971) has suggested that a major factor that differ-
entiates successful from unsuccessful therapists is
their interest in people and their commitment to
the patient. In a similar vein, Brunink and Schroe-
der (1979) found that expert therapists of several
different theoretical persuasions were similar in
their communication of empathy.
The attention to empathy, along with the
related notions of warmth and genuineness, grew
out of Carl Rogers’ (1951) system of client-
centered therapy. He described these variables as
necessary and sufficient conditions for therapeutic
change (Rogers, 1957). Some research evidence
has seemed to point to a relationship between
these three qualities and successful outcomes in
therapy (Truax & Carkhuff, 1967; Truax &
Mitchell, 1971). However, in a careful review of
research on therapeutic outcomes as they relate
to therapist empathy, regard, and genuineness,
Lambert, DeJulio, and Stein (1978) could find
only modest support for the Rogerian hypothesis.
Strupp and Bergin (1969) seem to regard empathy,
warmth, and genuineness as necessary but not suffi-
cient conditions for good therapy outcomes. In
more recent years, these three qualities have beenPSYCHOLOGICAL INTERVENTIONS 327