Abstract

The main purpose of this study is to investigate the psychotherapeutic relationship as it is experienced by psychotherapists in Korea, using a comprehensive questionnaire designed for a major cross-national survey of mental health professionals and translated into Korean by the author. The study focuses on those sections of the questionnaire concerned with the therapeutic relationship because that aspect of therapy is common to various treatments and has been shown by much previous research to be linked to therapeutic outcome. The researcher used data collected in Korea and other countries to examine the question: To what extent are psychotherapists in Korea different from therapists in other countries in the way they experience their professional relationships with patients? Comparative analyses will focus both on the definition of relationship dimensions and on levels of emphasis within specific dimensions. Five common scales were constructed using descriptors derived from the factor analyses: "Supportive", "Care-Taking", "Autocratic" (Confronting, Directive, Superior), "Formal", and "Invested". Using hierarchical multiple regression analyses to assess differences between Korean and Western therapists quantitatively on the five common relationship dimension suggest that Korean and Western therapists differed most in how personally "Invested" they felt, and in how "Formal" and "Care-Taking" they saw themselves. The Korean therapists in this sample rated themselves as significantly less "Invested", and as significantly more "Formal" , yet also significantly more "Care-Taking" than their Western counterparts. There was no significant difference between Korean and Western therapists in how "Supportive" they perceived themselves to be, and just a marginally significant difference in how "Autocratic" they perceived themselves to be.