Improvement in Psychotherapy and Adoption of the Therapist's Meaning System

Abstract

Twelve most improved and 8 least improved clients were used in testing the hypothesis that improvement in therapy is contingent upon the adoption by the client of the personal meaning system of his therapist. The hypothesis was rejected. There was a trend indicating that the most improved client tends to increase in his preference for his own frame of reference, that he tends to become more himself rather than an echo of his therapist. The least improved client tends to internalize the therapist's frame of reference. These conclusions are highly tentative, but suggest the importance of differentiating between “frames of reference” and “specific attitudes” and considering introjection in relationship to different therapeutic approaches.