Bloch S, Bond G, Qualls B, Yalom I, Zimmerman E
Am J Psychiatry. 1976 Dec;133(12):1457-60. doi: 10.1176/ajp.133.12.1457.
The authors studied the relationship between patients' expectations of therapeutic improvement and their actual outcomes after 8 and 12 months of group psychotherapy. Using patients' self-evaluations and assessments by therapists and independent judges, they found a positive relationship between expectations and outcomes only when assessments were derived from patients. The authors discuss the possibility of a continuing expectational set in patients toward psychotherapy.
