The Significance of Therapist Genuineness From the Client's Perspective

Therapist authenticity is viewed as an important therapeutic process. The client's experiencing of the process and significance of therapist genuineness is, however, under-researched. In a case study (N = 6), the authors analyzed the clients' experiencing of the overall significance of therapist genuineness in their therapy. Both qualitative and quantitative data were gathered and analyzed using the technique of pattern matching. The authors found that clients also experienced processes other than genuineness as crucial therapeutic processes. Nevertheless, the results show that therapist genuineness can be a crucial therapeutic process. The findings imply that whether and how genuineness is crucial for change also depends on the individual client.