Therapist response to a distressed client: Differences in active listening and changes in negative affect

Background: While talking through distress can help ease client distress, listening to distressed individuals can be a challenging task for psychotherapists who do so routinely. Aims: Consequently we explore factors that account for variance in emotional reactions to distress among therapists. These included beliefs about responsibility for helping, professional training, and demographic variables. Materials & Methods: Seventy-one psychotherapists observed an online video of a distressed individual and then completed measures of negative affect (NA), therapist beliefs about their role, and demographics and professional training. Participants also wrote a brief response after the video describing what they would say to the distressed individual. Results: Findings suggested a complex set of relations among variables. Female therapists who were Counselling Psychologists and reported lower need for control in therapeutic situations were more likely to employ active listening (AL) responses and evidence NA decreases post-video. Female Counselling Psychologists who wrote a non-AL response, however, evidenced an increase in NA pre-post video. Discussion: Results suggested the potentially important role of active listening responses in helping therapists to manage their negative affect in response to distressed individuals. Active listening responses were associated with gender, professional training, and therapists’ beliefs about role. Conclusion: We discuss implications of these results for therapist training and research in occupational stress and burnout.