The MMPI-2 and poor psychotherapeutic progress

In many counseling center settings, the MMPI-2 is given largely to a population perceived to be progressing slowly in therapy. The testing in large part is largely used to elucidate aspects of the individual’s personality, assumedly hidden from the therapist.that is impeding treatment progress. Unfortunately, extensive research on the profiles of these individuals does not exist. The present study sought to explore a number of suchMMPI-2’s from an on-campus university counseling center in search of consistency among scales and profiles. The study discovered five significantly distinct groups ofMMPI-2 profiles. Interpretations on each group’s mean profile were made with respect to personality characteristics that might impede treatment progress. The groups were found to have distinctly different MMPI-2 profile interpretations and thus the hypotheses regarding their reported poor progress in treatment were similarly distinct. Additionally,differences were found among groups with regard to reported childhood sexual and physical abuse, reported adulthood physical abuse and overall family of origin relationships. The findings suggest that individuals possess a number of separate and distinct characteristics that make them prone to poor progress in psychotherapy. It is believed that these characteristics can be assessed by their MMPI-2 profiles.