Retraction of Gerstenblith et al. (2022).

Abstract

Reports the retraction of "The triadic effect: Associations among the supervisory working alliance, therapeutic working alliance, and therapy session evaluation" by Judith A. Gerstenblith, Kathryn V. Kline, Clara E. Hill and Dennis M. Kivlighan Jr. (Journal of Counseling Psychology, 2022[Mar], Vol 69[2], 199-210). The following article is being retracted (https://doi.org/10.1037/cou0000567). This retraction is at the request of coauthors Kivlighan and Hill after the results of an investigation by the University of Maryland Institutional Review Board (IRB). The IRB found that the study included data from between one and four therapy clients of the Maryland Psychotherapy Clinic and Research Laboratory (MPCRL) who either had not been asked to provide consent or had withdrawn consent for their data to be included in the research. Gerstenblith and Kline were not responsible for obtaining and verifying participant consent but agreed to the retraction of this article. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2021-88607-001.) Several theorists (Bandura, 1969; Hackney & Goodyear, 1984; Searles, 1955) suggest parallels between the relationship in supervision and the relationship in therapy. We examined supervisor and therapist trainee ratings of supervisory working alliance (SWA) in 1 week predicting client-rated therapeutic working alliance (TWA) and client-rated therapy session evaluation (TSE) in the following week as well as TWA and TSE ratings in 1 week predicting SWA ratings in the following week. Our data included 663 weeks of therapy nested within 28 trainees nested within 15 supervisors, disaggregated into differences between supervisors, differences within supervisors, and differences within trainees. At the between-supervisor level, when supervisors' trainees rated the SWA higher on average compared with other supervisors' trainees' average SWA ratings, their clients' average TWA rating was higher. In contrast, when supervisors rated the SWA higher on average compared with other supervisors' average SWA ratings, their trainees' clients' average TSE rating was higher but the average TWA rating was lower. At the within-supervisor level, when trainees rated a higher SWA on average compared with other trainees' average SWA ratings with the same supervisor, their clients' average TSE rating was higher. The theoretical prediction of parallel relationships in supervision and therapy was supported, but only for between-supervisor and within-supervisor differences in SWA. We found no evidence that week-to-week changes in SWA or client-rated TWA or TSE reflected parallel relationships. We provide suggestions for further research, including exploring the mechanisms through which supervision relates to the therapy process and outcome. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).