The relationship between therapist competency in cognitive therapy and general therapy skill

One recent trend in psychotherapy research involves the increased specification of the treatment variable through the use of therapy manuals and therapists who are trained to criteria. This study is an investigation of the relationship between ratings of therapist competence in one system of psychotherapy (cognitive therapy, CT) and ratings of therapist performance less dependent on modality-specific interventions (i.e., general therapy skills). Experts in cognitive therapy judged the quality with which a group of therapists implemented the CT protocol. The Matarazzo Checklist of Therapist Behaviour (MCTB), a scale less dependent on modality-specific interventions, was used by other, independent judges to rate the same therapy sessions. Results of correlational analyses indicated that subcategories of errors on the MCTB were differentially related to competence in cognitive therapy as measured by the Cognitive Therapy Scale. Highly competent performance was negatively related to errors in therapeutic focus, but was positively related to errors in communication. These data were interpreted to reflect the importance of tying judgments of therapy skill to the specific theoretical and technical model of the therapy system being examined.