Interdependence of scales for the facilitative conditions: Three types of correlational data

Used 3 types of correlations to examine the interrelationships of scales for therapist empathy, warmth, genuineness, self-disclosure, and immediacy. Instruments included a revision of the Truax Accurate Empathy Scale, Truax Nonpossessive Warmth Scale, Truax Genuineness Scale, and the Carkhuff Empathy Scale, as well as other of Carkhuff's scales. When overall therapist averages were intercorrelated for a group of 15 therapists (doctoral students in clinical and counseling psychology), all of the coefficients were quite high. When session scores in successive sessions with 6 therapist-client pairs were intercorrelated, the coefficients were more moderate and presented a different pattern. Immediacy and self-disclosure were not significantly related to empathy and warmth for high-facilitative therapists. Different patterns of intercorrelations were obtained for different therapist-client pairs. Results suggest that use of all the facilitative scales is best justified when ongoing therapist performance is to be examined. (24 ref)