Lay theories of psychotherapy I: Attitudes toward, and beliefs about, psychotherapy and therapists

Abstract

Two hundred people completed two questionnaires that concerned their beliefs about what psychotherapy clients experience and their attitudes toward psychotherapy. Both questionnaires were shown to have an interpretable factor structure, and these beliefs and attitudal factors were shown to be clearly related. There were no sex, a few age, but a number of educational and "psychological experience" correlates of the belief and attitudinal factors. A canonical correlation produced one factor that seemed readily interpretable, with psychological experience the most powerful correlate of both beliefs and attitudes. The results were discussed in terms of the work on lay beliefs and expectations about therapy and counseling.