Humanistic psychotherapy research 1990-2015: from methodological innovation to evidence-supported treatment outcomes and beyond.

OBJECTIVE: Over the past 25 years, humanistic psychotherapy (HP) researchers have actively contributed to the development and implementation of innovative practice-informed research measures and coding systems. METHOD: Qualitative and quantitative research findings, including meta-analyses, support the identification of HP approaches as evidence-based treatments for a variety of psychological conditions. RESULTS: Implications for future psychotherapy research, training, and practice are discussed in terms of addressing the persistent disjunction between significant HP research productivity and relatively low support for HP approaches in university-based clinical training programs, funding agencies, and government-supported clinical guidelines. CONCLUSION: Finally, specific recommendations are provided to further enhance and expand the impact of HP research for clinical training programs and the development of treatment guidelines.

Therapist and client perceptions of therapeutic presence: the development of a measure.

The authors developed two versions of a therapeutic presence measure, based on an earlier model of presence (Geller & Greenberg, 2002)-Therapeutic Presence Inventory-therapist (TPI-T) and client (TPI-C) versions-to measure in-session therapeutic presence. They explored their reliability and validity in two studies. In the first, items generated from the previously established model were subjected to analyses and expert ratings. In the second study, therapists and clients rated therapists' presence postsession. Therapists also completed the Relationship Inventory, and clients assessed two additional factors: session outcome, using the Client Task Specific Measure-Revised, and therapeutic alliance, using the Working Alliance Inventory. Findings revealed that both versions of the TPI had good reliability and construct validity. However, TPI-T had low predictive validity and the TPI-C showed good predictive validity. In particular, clients reported positive therapeutic alliance and change following sessions when they felt their therapist was present with them.