A brief, multidimensional measure of clients’ therapy preferences: The Cooper-Norcross Inventory of Preferences (C-NIP)

Abstract

Addressing and accommodating client preferences in psychotherapy have been consistently associated with improved treatment outcomes; however, few clinically useful and psychometrically acceptable measures are available for this purpose. The aim of this study was to develop a brief, multidimensional clinical tool to help clients articulate the therapist style they desire in psychotherapy or counseling. An online survey composed of 40 therapy preference items was completed by 860 respondents, primarily female (n = 699), British (n = 650), White (n = 761), and mental health professionals themselves (n = 615). Principal components analysis resulted in four scales that accounted for 39% of the total variance: Therapist Directiveness vs. Client Directiveness, Emotional Intensity vs. Emotional Reserve, Past Orientation vs. Present Orientation, and Warm Support vs. Focused Challenge. These scales map well onto dimensions of therapist activity and cover most of the major preference dimensions identified in the research literature. Internal consistency coefficients ranged between .60 and .85 (M = .71). Tentative cutoff points for strong preferences on each dimension were established. The 18-item Cooper-Norcross Inventory of Preferences (C-NIP) is a multidimensional measure with clinical utility, but additional validity data are needed.

The Effects of Psychotherapist's and Clients' Interpersonal Behaviors during a First Simulated Session: A Lab Study Investigating Client Satisfaction

“…This means that the two extremities of the agency dimension were possibly not the most realistic application of the levels of control and autonomy taken by psychotherapists in the psychotherapeutic situation. The concept of nondirectiveness, as presented in the Rogerian conception (e.g., Grant, 1990 ), which is close to the concept of agency (Cooper and Norcross, 2016 ), may be more suited to the psychotherapeutic setting. Indeed, while from a conceptual viewpoint, the behaviors of directiveness and dominance are similar, nondirective behaviors, even if they are opposite to directive behaviors, were not included in the submissive manipulation of the agency dimension.…”

Neuroimaging in cockroach phobia: An experimental study

“…This study was designed with these methodological requirements in order to avoid the heterogeneity of data obtained in previous studies. Apart from taking into account patients’ treatment preferences ( Cooper & Norcross, 2016 ), as Beutler, Someah, Kimpara, and Miller (2016) pointed out, a multi-method approach is needed to increase the accuracy in selecting the best psychological treatment. In this regard, knowing which nuclei of the brain are related to fear can be a predominant step to improve the strategies aimed at eliminating its pathological learning ( Ávila & Fullana, 2016 ).…”

Predictive validity of the Sidorkiewicz instrument in Spanish: Assessing individual drug adherence in psychiatric patients

“…Nevertheless, this new and better adherence tool, allowing the evaluation of each patient's psychoactive drug, has helped us to further establish evidence that socio-demographic and clinical variables of the patient may have no important role in adherence, while the patient's attitudes and beliefs toward his/her medication may have a very strong role. The patient's preference ( Cooper & Norcross, 2016 ) and self-motivation ( Marín-Navarrete et al, 2017 ) can help to select the best treatment ( Beutler, Someah, Kimpara, & Miller, 2016 ) for each patient and contribute to improve adherence.…”