ABSTRACT

This study investigated multiple aspects of therapists’ provision of positive regard (PR), including their assessment of the importance of PR in their practice, their sense of which specific aspects of PR are most affirming, and their perception of which aspects they provide most frequently to their clients. A total of 269 psychotherapists, primarily female, White, residing in the United States, and representing a range of theoretical orientations, completed a web-based survey with three Likert-type measures that reflected an understanding of PR as a wider-ranging concept than unconditional positive regard (UPR). Results suggest that therapists acknowledge PR as central to treatment process and outcome, that there is significant thematic breadth to the ways they choose to convey PR, and that the behaviors and statements they perceive as most affirming are also those that they are most likely to express in therapy. These findings, in conjunction with the significant convergence between therapists’ and clients’ perceptions of the nature and importance of PR, suggest that PR is a far more widely adopted attitude across multiple theoretical orientations than has generally been assumed.

摘要

这项研究调查了治疗师提供积极关注（PR）的多个方面，包括他们对实践中 PR 重要性的评估、他们对 PR 的哪些具体方面最肯定的感觉，以及他们对他们最常提供哪些方面的看法给他们的客户。总共 269 名居住在美国的心理治疗师（主要是女性、白人）完成了一项基于网络的调查，其中包括三种李克特式测量，这些测量反映了对公关作为一个比公关更广泛的概念的理解。无条件积极关注（UPR）。结果表明，治疗师承认公关是治疗过程和结果的核心，​​他们选择传达公关的方式有很大的主题广度，他们认为最肯定的行为和陈述也是他们最有可能在治疗中表达的行为和陈述。这些发现，再加上治疗师和来访者对公关的性质和重要性的看法之间的显着趋同，表明公关是一种跨多种理论取向的态度，比人们普遍认为的要广泛得多。