Publication
Title
The mediating role of meaning in life between the therapeutic relationship and therapy outcome in person-centered and experiential psychotherapies
Author
Abstract
Meaning in life is generally not considered to be one of the most central aspects of person-centered and experiential therapies. However, Carl Rogers described how clients found purpose in life by going through a process that helped them to connect to their inner experiencing. This process was evoked by an empathic, accepting, and genuine therapeutic relationship and resulted in positive therapy outcome. Recently, scholars have also stressed the importance of the therapeutic alliance to foster meaning-making processes in therapy. Meaning in life is also related to well-being. Therefore, the aim of this study is to test whether meaning in life would mediate between therapeutic alliance and therapy outcome in person-centered and experiential psychotherapies. Our sample consisted of 96 outpatients nested within 23 therapists. Using multilevel modeling, we found that meaning in life indeed mediates between the therapeutic relationship and therapy outcome. This suggests that meaning in life might actually be at the very core of person-centered and experiential therapies, and therefore deserves the attention of clinicians as well as theorists. Our results support the idea that the therapeutic bond might foster meaning(-making processes) in therapy, leading to better therapy outcome. However, this idea should be explored further using longitudinal methods.
Language
English
Source (journal)
Person-centered and experiential psychotherapies. - Llagarron
Publication
Abingdon : Routledge journals, taylor & francis ltd , 2022
ISSN
1477-9757
DOI
10.1080/14779757.2021.1938184
Volume/pages
21 :1 (2022) , p. 73-93
ISI
000660959400001
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
Full text (open access)
Full text (publisher's version - intranet only)
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Research group
Publication type
Subject
Affiliation
Publications with a UAntwerp address
External links
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 28.06.2021
Last edited 23.08.2024
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