An exploration of expectancies and preferences of potential clients with regard to four therapist disciplines

The purpose of the present study was to explore how potential clients view the personal characteristics of Marriage and Family Therapists, Clinical Psychologists, Social Workers, and Psychiatrists and the problem areas appropriate to each. A secondary purpose of the study was to determine if these views could be changed experimentally by the provision of information regarding each therapist discipline. One hundred ninety-two undergraduate students (96 males and 96 females) at Purdue University completed questionnaires asking about their expectancies and preferences related to individual problem areas for each of the four therapist disciplines. Half of the males and females were assigned to the control group, and half to the experimental group. The experimental group read educational materials regarding the therapist disciplines; the control group read case studies with no educational information regarding therapist disciplines contained in them. It was hypothesized that subjects would have different expectations for each of the therapist disciplines. This hypothesis was supported by the study. It was also hypothesized that there would be differences between the sexes in their overall level of expectancies and preferences of the four therapist disciplines. This hypothesis was supported. Lastly, it was hypothesized that the experimental manipulation would change the expectancies and preferences of the experimental group. This hypothesis was not supported; however, expectancies of some of the items did change when the experimental manipulation was used. The most significant findings in this study are exploratory in nature, and reveal stereotypes and preferences potential clients have for the four therapist disciplines. The meanings of these findings are discussed