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predictive abilities of the therapeutic alliance on outcome, it may have been that the
relational aspects inherent in relational therapy mediated the impact of the cognitive
interventions in a positive way.
The results concerning the relationship between BRT therapists' use of BAP and
outcome indicate that therapists' use of BAP interventions may not be advantageous.
Again, this finding was non-significant, but the large effect size indicates that it may have
been significant with a larger sample. Previous theorists and researchers (e.g., Wachtel,
1993; Strupp, 1989) have suggested that certain dynamic interventions (e.g., transference
interpretations) may be experienced by patients as punitive rather than helpful in the
context of ruptures. The reason being, when a therapist responds to his or her patient's
negative reactions towards him or herself by administering interventions that link the
patient's past significant others to the therapist (transference interpretations), the patient
may experience the interventions as invalidating. This would perpetuate the patient's
negative feelings towards his or her therapist and/or therapy itself.
As for the lack of significant findings and/or sizeable effects in cognitive
behavioral therapy, several explanations can be offered. The finding that CBT therapists'
use of CBT interventions did not contribute to poor outcome may suggest that the
hypothesis was misguided. Alternatively, given the fact that CBT therapists were
integrating interventions from other orientations with a high rate of overlap, it may have
been that their flexible application of the treatment manual reduced the negative impact
of the CBT interventions. In their study, Castonguay and colleagues (1996) observed
therapists to increase adherence to their treatment interventions, which contributed to
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