Client Cooperative Interview Behavior and Outcome in Paradoxical and Behavioral Brief Treatment Approaches

In this study, we investigated the differential implications of client cooperation for improvement in behavioral versus paradoxical brief treatment approaches. The subjects included 16 clients who completed a brief course of counseling, 9 in a paradoxical condition and 7 in a behavioral condition. Client cooperation versus resistance was assessed on the basis of behavior during intake interviews in terms of the coordinating style construct (Westerman, Tanaka, Frankel, & Kahn, 1986), which assesses how well the client coordinates contributions to the interaction with the interviewer's contributions and the client's own contributions at other points in time. As hypothesized, there was a stronger negative relation between noncoordinating style and improvement in the behavioral condition as compared with the paradoxical condition. The findings provide preliminary empirical support for the widely held position that a paradoxical approach is especially well suited for resistant clients, whereas behavioral approaches are appropriate for cooperative clients.