Catherine F. Eubanks

My research focuses on the identification and dissemination of principles of change and therapeutic skills that are effective across orientations. I am particularly interested in the person of the therapist—the attitudes, skills, and behaviors that contribute to making a therapist an effective agent of change—and in how to facilitate therapist effectiveness in the context of alliance ruptures. I draw on quantitative, qualitative, and case study methods to conduct research with the aim of being both methodologically rigorous and clinically relevant. Much of my current research is focused on the continuing refinement and validation of an observer-based coding measure of alliance rupture and repair, the Rupture Resolution Rating System, or 3RS. The 3RS is a transtheoretical measure that has been applied to different types of therapy. It is not only a useful research tool that lends itself to both quantitative and qualitative studies, but it is also a valuable tool for training therapists to be more attentive to psychotherapy process and to moments when differences between patients and therapists—in terms of their diverse identities, their goals and expectations, their wishes and needs—warrant empathic exploration. In this way, the 3RS is consistent with my overarching goal of bridging the gap between research and practice.