Therapist interventions and client emotional experiencing in expert psychodynamic–interpersonal and cognitive–behavioral therapies.

Eighteen sessions of cognitive-behavioral (CB) and 13 sessions of psychodynamic-interpersonal therapy obtained from experienced clinicians in a naturalistic setting were investigated to determine the various therapeutic interventions associated with high and low emotional experiencing (EXP). Clients receiving reflections and acknowledgments, affiliative and noncontrolling interventions, or interventions highlighting nonspecific client content were associated with maintained high EXP. Lengthier interventions and interventions rated as affiliative but moderately controlling were associated with shifts to low EXP. For clients of CB therapists, questions, interventions rated affiliative but controlling, and highlighting minimal emotional content were also associated with shifts to low EXP. Male therapists were associated with clients who maintained high EXP and female therapists were associated with clients who shifted to low EXP.