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Rule Emission: A Possible Variable for Improved Therapeutic Practice

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 October 2018

Ivette Vargas-de la Cruz ,
Rebeca Pardo-Cebrián ,
Héctor Martínez Sánchez  and
María Xesús Froján-Parga
Ivette Vargas-de la Cruz*
Affiliation:
Universidad de Guadalajara (Mexico)
Rebeca Pardo-Cebrián
Affiliation:
Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Spain)
Héctor Martínez Sánchez
Affiliation:
Universidad de Guadalajara (Mexico)
María Xesús Froján-Parga
Affiliation:
Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Spain)
*
*Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Ivette Vargas-de la Cruz. Instituto de Neurociencias de la Universidad de Guadalajara. Sierra Mojada 950, Puerta 3, Edificio N. Colonia Independencia. 44340 Guadalajara (Mexico). Phone: +52–3310585200 (ext 34121). E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

It has been suggested that achieving greater effectiveness in psychotherapeutic treatment requires analyzing what therapists actually do and say, how they do this and when it is done. Based on this approach, in this study we focused on the rules emitted by therapists, since providing rules is thought to be of fundamental importance in promoting effective and efficient clinical change. Specifically, we sought to determine whether the experience level of therapists and the brevity of therapy would be related to patterns of therapist rule emission as categorized by the Category System of Rules emitted by the Therapist (SISC-RULES-T) (Vargas-de la Cruz & Pardo-Cebrián, 2014). Greater therapist experience and shorter therapy duration were found to be reliably predictive of more rule emissions across most rule categories (Z values between: Z = –3.68 and Z = –2.05; p values: p < .05 and p < .001). These variables were also predictive of more emissions of rules that specified all three operant contingency elements (situation, behavior, and consequence) rather than fewer elements (Z = –2.59, p < .05; Z = –2.26, p < .05). In the expert therapists and therapist with shorter cases, there was a nonsignificant tendency for the emission of general and conceptual rules to increase over sessions whereas emissions of concrete and particular rules tended to decrease; the explicitness of the three contingency elements also tended to decrease as treatment progressed. These findings may help to identify verbal characteristics of therapists that could lead to improved therapeutic practice.

Keywords

effectivenessrulestherapeutic processtherapistverbal behavior
Type
Research Article
Information
The Spanish Journal of Psychology , Volume 21 , 2018 , E38
Copyright
Copyright © Universidad Complutense de Madrid and Colegio Oficial de Psicólogos de Madrid 2018 

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