A therapist's use of verbal response categories in engagement and nonengagement interviews

Client return for post-intake therapy is one indication of client engagement in the therapy process. A therapist's verbal responses from seven engagement and four nonengagement interviews were classified using the 12-category Hill Therapist Verbal Response Category System (Hill, 1993). In engagement interviews, the therapist provided the client with more information than in nonengagement interviews. Therapist information utterances increased and therapist use of questions decreased throughout engagement sessions. In nonengagement interviews, therapist information declined and therapist questions increased during the sessions. Results suggest that clients returned for further therapy after intake when their problems had been clarified through the use of questions and work on the problems had begun with the therapist providing information.