Homework assignment: the use of instructions in psychological treatments and therapeutic compliance

Abstract

The use of homework in psychological treatments is frequently used by psychologists. However, there is a gap in research that demonstrates the effect of different variables in therapeutic compliance. One of the factors most frequently related with compliance is the therapeutic interaction when therapist instructs the client but little is known about how this interaction influences the compliance. The aim of the present work is to provide a solid theoretical framework about the study of instructions in psychological treatments as way of assigning homework and their relationship with the therapeutic compliance and effectiveness. Ultimately, in the long term we pretend to study through empirical studies how the therapeutic interaction in assigning homework influences the therapeutic compliance. The majority of the publications about therapeutic compliance and therapeutic interaction in homework assignment suggest that there is a relationship between them, but there are not studies that show specifically how it is. Therefore, there is a need of studying more systematically the role of the therapeutic interaction when therapist assigns homework