Building a positive therapeutic relationship is a challenging, yet critical, first step in conducting youth psychotherapy. A number of studies in the youth treatment literature have indicated that a positive therapeutic alliance is related to increased treatment attendance, participation, and outcome. Some research has examined therapist behaviours for engaging therapy clients; however, developmental differences in alliance formation have had limited exploration. The current study surveyed clinicians about their use of specific engagement strategies and the developmental stage of their youth clients. It was hypothesised that participants would differentially rate the importance of different aspects of therapeutic engagement based upon a youth client's developmental stage and that these would correspond with differences in specific engagement strategies. A total of 64 clinicians with experience treating youth completed the study. The participants completed a questionnaire administered online that asked them to rate the importance of developmental differences to forming a therapeutic relationship and provide example client behaviours from their clinical experience for each developmental stage. Results showed clinicians felt the relative importance of collaboration, advocacy, and trustworthiness increased with age. These differences were also evidenced in the specific strategies clinicians endorsed in relation to each engagement factor across developmental stages. This program of research will eventually aid in the development of new guidelines for engaging clients in youth psychotherapy. In addition, the results may be used to enhance psychotherapy training for those working with children and adolescents.

中文翻译：

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心理治疗师对与不同发展水平的青年客户建立互动行为的看法

建立积极的治疗关系是进行青少年心理治疗的具有挑战性但又至关重要的第一步。青少年治疗文献中的许多研究表明，积极的治疗联盟与治疗出勤率、参与度和治疗结果的增加有关。一些研究考察了治疗师为吸引治疗对象而采取的行为。然而，联盟形成方面的发展差异的探索有限。目前的研究调查了临床医生对特定参与策略的使用以及青年客户的发展阶段。假设参与者会根据青年客户的发展阶段对治疗参与不同方面的重要性进行不同的评价，并且这些将与具体参与策略的差异相对应。共有 64 名具有治疗青少年经验的临床医生完成了这项研究。参与者完成了一份在线调查问卷，要求他们评估发育差异对形成治疗关系的重要性，并根据每个发育阶段的临床经验提供客户行为示例。结果显示，临床医生认为合作、倡导和信任的相对重要性随着年龄的增长而增加。这些差异也体现在临床医生针对各个发育阶段的参与因素所认可的具体策略中。该研究计划最终将有助于制定新的指导方针，让客户参与青少年心理治疗。此外，研究结果还可用于加强儿童和青少年工作人员的心理治疗培训。