An exploratory study of the therapeutic alliance and client outcomes in a voluntary counselling agency
Date
2012-08-27
Authors
Lee, Cynthia
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Abstract
Dyadic data analysis methods are underutilized in child and youth care, where much of the
practice relies on relationships with individuals and groups. In this exploratory study, a dyadic
data analysis approach was used to study the interdependence amongst client-counsellor dyads in
a voluntary counselling setting. Ten counsellors and thirty-six clients from a Canadian voluntary
counselling agency participated in this study. Counselling sessions ranged from two to 20
sessions. Clients completed a session rating scale, a measure of the therapeutic alliance. In
addition, clients and counsellors completed an outcome rating scale and personal change
questions. A one-with-many design was used to explore the similarity between client-counsellor
dyads, the degree of consensus, assimilation, and uniqueness as well as the level of reciprocity
for perceived client well-being. Multi-level modeling was used to partition the variance on the
outcome rating scale to account for sources of non-independence in client-counsellor dyads, and
the indirect relationships between multiple clients working with the same counsellor.
Implications of the study and recommendations for future research are discussed.
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Keywords
dyadic data analysis, voluntary counselling, therapeutic alliance, client outcome, counseling