The Therapist Variable
Abstract
RICHARD I. SHADER M.D. 1 , LESTER GRINSPOON M.D. 2 , JEROLD S. HARMATZ 3 , , and JACK R. EWALT M.D. 4 1 Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Associate Director of Psychiatry, Massachusetts Mental Health Center, 74 Fenwood Rd., Boston, Mass. 02115 2 Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Director of Psychiatry (Research), Massachusetts Mental Health Center, 74 Fenwood Rd., Boston, Mass. 02115 3 Research Psychologist, Harvard Medical School, Research Psychologist, Massachusetts Mental Health Center, 74 Fenwood Rd., Boston, Mass. 02115 4 Bullard Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Superintendent, Massachusetts Mental Health Center, 74 Fenwood Rd., Boston, Mass. 02115 Therapists who participated in previous active drug-placebo studies of chronic and acute schizophrenics were rated on the Whitehorn-Betz A-B scale. The ratings were then related to treatment outcome. Patients who had been treated with phenothiazines and by Type A (verbal-intellectual) therapists improved more than those treated with placebo and by Type B (practical-mechanical) therapists, although the results were not statistically significant. The authors stress the importance of further research in this area.