THE CALIFORNIA PSYCHOTHERAPY ALLIANCE SCALES - A PILOT-STUDY OF DIMENSIONS AND ELEMENTS

The reliability and clinical utility of the rater form of the Californ ia Psychotherapy Alliance Scales (CALPAS-R) was investigated on a samp le of 12 one-hour audiotapes representing differing therapeutic dyads and sampled from sessions two to six of a relationship-oriented (explo ratory) therapy within pilot cases of a large outcome study. Both glob al dimensions and element-based ratings were used to test the feasibil ity of employing the elements as a way of obtaining a finer-grained an alysis of the therapeutic alliance. Results are reported in terms of t he inter-rater reliability of the dimensions and elements, and show el ement ratings to yield dimensional measures similar or superior to glo bal ratings in reliability. In addition, CALPAS-R ratings were analyse d in conjunction with client ratings of session depth and smoothness a s well as helpfulness.