Perceptions of therapists as a function of professional fees and treatment modalities

Abstract

Consumers, therapists, and researchers share an interest in the topic of service fees. The issue of fees can affect clients' evaluation of the provider as well as the likelihood of using the service being offered. In a between‐subjects design, adult males (n = 84) and females (n = 78) read a brief description of a psychologist who provided individual or group therapy for a fee of $50, $80, or $110. While fees had no effect, treatment mode and participant sex did relate to perceptions of therapist credibility. A triple interaction emerged with respect to participants' willingness to consult the psychologist. Implications for service providers are discussed.

Lay theories of psychotherapy and perceptions of therapists: A replication and extension of furnham and wardley

“…These results both confirmed and extended Schneider and Watkins' (1990) findings. These results both confirmed and extended Schneider and Watkins' (1990) findings.…”

“…In most respects, the results supported the findings of Furnham and Wardley (1990) and Schneider and Watkins (1990). The subjects in this study appeared to have realistic conceptions about what occurs in therapy and to be quite optimistic about treatment outcomes.…”

“…Factors that have been examined include therapists' physical attractiveness (e.g., Cash, Begley, McCown, & Weise, 1975), client comfort with the therapeutic situation (e.g., Hynan, 1990), client perceptions of therapists' facilitative skill (e.g., Kolb, Beutler, Davis, Crago, & Shanfield, 1985), client expectations (e.g., Fischer & Turner, 1970; Llewelyn, 1988), therapist's fees (e.g., Bloom, Schroeder, & Babineau, 1981;Brigham & Brigham, 1985), and treatment modality (e.g., Schneider & Watkins, 1990). Factors that have been examined include therapists' physical attractiveness (e.g., Cash, Begley, McCown, & Weise, 1975), client comfort with the therapeutic situation (e.g., Hynan, 1990), client perceptions of therapists' facilitative skill (e.g., Kolb, Beutler, Davis, Crago, & Shanfield, 1985), client expectations (e.g., Fischer & Turner, 1970; Llewelyn, 1988), therapist's fees (e.g., Bloom, Schroeder, & Babineau, 1981;Brigham & Brigham, 1985), and treatment modality (e.g., Schneider & Watkins, 1990).…”

“…Because several recent studies have found that fees and treatment modality (e.g., individual vs. group psychotherapy) influence willingness to seek therapy and/or evaluations of therapists (e.g., Brigham & Brigham, 1985;Schneider & Watkins, 1990), the present study also investigated the effects of treatment modality (client-centered vs. rational-emotive vs. behavior individual therapy) and fees ($70 vs. $90 vs. $115) on perceptions of therapist credibility. It was hypothesized that individuals who hold more positive beliefs about psychotherapy would rate the therapist as more credible, overall, irrespective of treatment modality or fee.…”

“…The Therapist Credibility (TC) scale, which was developed from Berlo, Lemert, and Mertz's (1969-70) instrument to measure source credibility and has been used subsequently by numerous investigators to measure therapist credibility (e.g., Schneider & Watkins, 1990;Trautt & Bloom, 1982). The Therapist Credibility (TC) scale, which was developed from Berlo, Lemert, and Mertz's (1969-70) instrument to measure source credibility and has been used subsequently by numerous investigators to measure therapist credibility (e.g., Schneider & Watkins, 1990;Trautt & Bloom, 1982).…”