Marital Status and Gender Similarity in Marital Therapy

Abstract

This analogue study was designed to examine the effects of therapists' marital status and therapist and participant sex on participants' perceptions of therapist and expectations for therapy. Each partner of 20 couples presenting for marital therapy at four outpatient counseling centers independently completed one of four protocols. The protocols differed only on the therapist's marital status and sex. Results revealed that neither therapist marital status nor therapist sex had an effect on participants' perceptions of therapists or therapy expectations. Female participants, however, perceived therapists as more trustworthy, attractive, and expert and had higher expectations for therapy than did male participants. James L. Campbell is a doctoral student in Counseling Psychology,

The Role of Participant‐Facilitator Demographic Match in Couple and Relationship Education

“…Regarding relationship status, Campbell and Johnson (1991) found that marital status of therapists was irrelevant to client perceptions of therapists in marital therapy. The CRE literature contains messages of the potential importance of marital status and relationship similarity (e.g., Adler‐Baeder & Higginbotham, 2004; Doherty & Anderson, 2004; Ooms & Wilson, 2004), but empirical exploration of this idea is scant.…”

“…Early scholars in the clinical literature emphasized that clinician experience is most important for client outcomes (Campbell & Johnson, 1991;Orlinsky & Howard, 1980). Participant perception of facilitator expertise may be colored by whether facilitators have ''been there'' and can relate to participant experiences (i.e., their experience match).…”

Presentation Format in Analogue Studies: Effects on Participants' Evaluations

“…Specifically, women have consistently been found to have more positive expectations for counseling than men do (Campbell & Johnson, 1991;Hardin & Yanico, 1983;Holland, Atkinson, & Johnson, 1987;Sipps & Janeczek, 1986;Subich, 1983). The finding that men expect more counselor expertise than Downloaded by [Central Michigan University] at 09:45 05 February 2015 women do has also been documented (Tinsley et al, 1980).…”

The Role of the Facilitator in Couple Relationship Education

“…Indeed, the therapy literature has identified improved effects among clients who match their therapists in gender (e.g., Cottone, Drucker, & Javier, ; Johnson & Caldwell, ) and ethnicity (Flicker, Waldron, Turner, Brody, & Hops, ; Lopez, Lopez, & Fong, ). Still, there have been therapy studies to find that therapist‐client match does not matter (e.g., Campbell & Johnson, ; Mamodhoussen, Wright, Trembley, & Poitras‐Wright, ). It is unknown whether these mixed findings reflect CRE effects.…”