Therapists’ perspectives on positive regard

ABSTRACT

This study investigated multiple aspects of therapists’ provision of positive regard (PR), including their assessment of the importance of PR in their practice, their sense of which specific aspects of PR are most affirming, and their perception of which aspects they provide most frequently to their clients. A total of 269 psychotherapists, primarily female, White, residing in the United States, and representing a range of theoretical orientations, completed a web-based survey with three Likert-type measures that reflected an understanding of PR as a wider-ranging concept than unconditional positive regard (UPR). Results suggest that therapists acknowledge PR as central to treatment process and outcome, that there is significant thematic breadth to the ways they choose to convey PR, and that the behaviors and statements they perceive as most affirming are also those that they are most likely to express in therapy. These findings, in conjunction with the significant convergence between therapists’ and clients’ perceptions of the nature and importance of PR, suggest that PR is a far more widely adopted attitude across multiple theoretical orientations than has generally been assumed.

KEYWORDS:

• Positive regard
• person-centered therapy
• Carl Rogers
• affirmation
• relational variables

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Daisy Ort

Daisy Ort is a doctoral student in the Department of Counseling and Clinical Psychology at Teachers College, Columbia University. She is the Project Director of the Positive Regard & Teletherapy Lab within the Psychotherapy, Technology, and Disclosure Lab at Teachers College.

Caitlin Moore

Caitlin Moore holds a Master’s in Clinical Psychology from Teachers College, Columbia University. For the past 2 years Caitlin has worked as a member of the Positive Regard & Teletherapy Lab at Teachers College.

Barry A. Farber

Barry A. Farber is Professor of Psychology and Education at Teachers College, Columbia University. He has served as Chair of the Counseling and Clinical Psychology Department and as Director of Clinical Training in the clinical psychology program. He received his PhD in clinical psychology at Yale University in 1978 and maintains a part-time clinical practice.