Relating partner attitudes toward seeking psychotherapy and partner ability to support therapeutic change to minority client's attendance in individual psychotherapy

The problem. Cross-cultural literature reports that attendance of therapy by ethnic minority clients (EMC) has traditionally been, and continues to be, characterized by high levels of early unilateral termination (EUT), --a client-initiated dropout after just one or two therapy sessions. In addition, much of cross-cultural literature reports a prevalence of negative attitudes toward therapy and therapists among ethnic individuals, families, and communities. This researcher theorized that the attitudes that characterize ethnic clients' social support on the individual, family, and community levels of relatedness have significant association with the EMC's tendency toward EUT.;The current inquiry was guided by the common factors theory (Lambert, 1992), which posits that therapy effectiveness is predicated upon two groups of factors. One group is comprised of the so-called "extra-therapeutic" variables that are independent of therapy (e.g., client's age, gender, previous therapy experience, and social support) and another, of therapy-dependent variables (e.g., client-therapist bond, expectancy of improvement, and the use of therapeutic techniques) (Lambert, 1992). Among the extra-therapeutic variables, social support for the client undergoing therapy is believed to predetermine the course of therapy and its outcome from the very inception of treatment (Lambert. 1992; Sprenkle, Blow, & Dickey, 1999). Based on this knowledge, this study hypothesized that partner's (spousal) attitudes toward seeking therapy and their ability to support therapeutic change would significantly relate to early attendance of therapy among EMCs.;The purpose. This study investigated the correlation between the early attendance of therapy by EMC, and their partner (spousal) attitudes toward seeking professional psychotherapy and partner (spousal) ability to support therapeutic change.;Method. The researcher obtained the records of ethnic minority clients' attendance of voluntary individual therapy as well as the data regarding their partner's (or spousal) attitudes toward seeking therapy and their partner's (or spousal) ability to support therapeutic change. The EMCs' attendance was examined relative to their partners' (spousal) scores on the two scales, one measuring the attitudes toward seeking therapy and another, the ability to support therapeutic change.;Results. The study was conducted in order to reveal whether EMCs' attendance at the onset of treatment significantly correlated with partner/spousal attitudes toward seeking therapy and their ability to support therapeutic change.