A NEGOTIATION APPROACH TO SYSTEMATIC TREATMENT SELECTION - AN EVALUATION OF ITS IMPACT ON THE INITIAL PHASE OF PSYCHOTHERAPY

Since psychotherapy failures and early dropouts represent a sizable pe rcentage of the clients who start psychotherapy, it is clearly importa nt to devise a methodologically sound and effective process of treatme nt selection. In this study, a negotiation approach to treatment selec tion is proposed and situated in the context of an integrative viewpoi nt on psychotherapy. The preferences of the client, the client's contr ol of the situation of choice, and the compatibility of differing view s of client and therapist constitute the typical characteristics of th is negotiation approach. The first part of this study gives a careful description of the negotiation approach. The second part examines the influence of the negotiation approach on the dropout rate and on initi al therapeutical contacts. Results indicate a significant effect of ne gotiation on dropout, suggesting that clients who perceive treatment s election as a negotiation process are more successful in their initial therapeutical contacts.