Therapist directives, including homework, advice, suggestions, and recommendations, are believed to have a significant effect on the behavioral and cognitive tendencies of a client. On the other hand, some people maintain that directives may be unnecessary or counteractive to the client's true development. But in Chinese culture, where people of "high" power giving directives to people of "low" power is socially acceptable and expected, the use of therapist directives would be appropriate. The research team studied the quantity and type of directives perceived by clients and therapists and "assessed the degree to which clients reported implementation of the primary directives they perceived." The data was compiled from 96 clients (split among 43 therapists) who each received a minimum of 5 sessions. The amount of directives that clients perceived were higher than the amount of therapists that therapists actually gave in all 5 sessions. The researchers concluded that the majority of directives concentrated on a client's intrapersonal or interpersonal issues. Also, Chinese therapists actually gave fewer directives than a similar American study.
Citation: Duan, C., Hill, C., Jiang, G., Hu, B., Chui, H., Hui, K., Liu, J., & Yu, L. (2012). Therapist directives: Use and outcomes in China. Psychotherapy Research, 1-16.
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