Premature Termination of Psychotherapy in an Outpatient Clinic: Exploring Risk Factors and Contributing Elements

This study explored personality features on the PAI and Rorschach that predicted early termination from psychotherapy in a sample of 104 individuals receiving treatment at a University-Affiliated Training Clinic. Early or premature termination was characterized in several ways – patients who terminated during the intake and patients who commenced treatment but terminated before the eighth session. In addition to the two categorical outcome variables, the number of attended sessions at point of termination was a third outcome variable. The findings indicated that four PAI scales (PIM, INF, WRM, PAR) were able to predict intake-completion and commencement of therapy, as well as the total number of attended sessions at point of termination. In addition, one composite Rorschach (RPAS) variable (SC-COMP) was able to predict the number of attended sessions. After interpreting the significant findings, several psychological/personality constructs seem to be related to therapeutic attendance - self-defeating patterns of behavior, interpersonal interest/desire, openness and authenticity, suspiciousness/trust toward others, and degree of task or activity engagement. Keywords: premature termination, early termination, Rorschach, PAI, psychotherap