"Clients' Deference in Psychotherapy" (1994)

[Dolphin]

Free full text:
http://www.safranlab.net/uploads/7/6/4/6/7646935/rennie._client_deference._94.pdf

Journal of Counseling Psychology
1994,
Vol. 41, No. 4, 427-437
Clients' Deference in Psychotherapy
David L. Rennie

In the present study, 14 psychotherapy clients were interviewed about their recollections, assisted by tape replay, of an immediately preceding therapy session.

A major category derived from a grounded theory analysis of the interview protocols was client's deference to the therapist, constituted of 8 lower level categories:
concern about the therapist's approach,
fear of criticizing the therapist,
understanding the therapist's frame of reference,
meeting the perceived expectations of the therapist,
accepting the therapist's limitations,
client's metacommunication,
threatening the therapist's self-esteem,
and indebtedness to the therapist.

The P. Brown and S. Levinson (1987) model of politeness in discourse both informs and is informed by the results of this study, which are also discussed in terms of recent literature on the client's covert experience and in terms of their implications for the practice of therapy

 

[Dolphin]

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[Glycon]

This kind of pressure is certainly a factor that needs to be considered in examining PACE (both scientifically and ethically). However, I don't understand why this article (of all things) is being appealed to for authoritative support. The phenomenon it discusses may be real and important, but it lacks even PACE's low standards of methodological rigor. And its author (from what I can tell) is a lot more of a flake than any of the prominent BPS people.