Presupposition Compatibility Facilitates Treatment Fidelity in Therapists Learning Structural Family Therapy

Abstract

Treatment fidelity refers to the therapist's actual adherence to treatment procedures, and compatibility refers to the degree to which the therapist's own presuppositions match or conflict with those implicit in the treatment method. In an effort to explore a solution to the problem of achieving treatment fidelity, we hypothesized a correlation between treatment fidelity and compatibility. In participant-therapists, the Therapist Presupposition Inventory (TPI) and the Individualism-Collectivism Scale (ICS) measured compatibility, the predictor. The Fidelity Rating was the criterion. Compatibility predicted fidelity, lending support to our hypothesis. Fidelity ratings correlated with TPI Collectivism scores ranging from .72 to .79, and on the ICS scores ranging from .51 to .73

Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the contributions of Richard Holm, DSW, and Roni Schnadow, MS, RN, LMFT, for their comments on the SFT Fidelity Rating Scale and for completing the scale after viewing visual recordings of family therapy sessions.