Abstract
Introduction: Nowadays, psychotherapy has become widely popular and is considered as an independent
profession. One of the persistent and disturbing problems of mental health clinics and therapists is premature
dropout of psychotherapy and counseling by patients. The phenomenon of premature dropout from
psychotherapy exists in all treatment approaches and all over the world. The main aim of the present study
was to determine the role of the client attachment to therapist and treatment motivation in predicting premature
dropout from psychotherapy and counseling.
Methods: The design of the present study was cross-sectional descriptive. The statistical population was all
patients referred to psychology and psychiatry clinics in Mashhad. The sample people were selected using the
non-random available sampling method between August 2023 and October 2024. Three hundred and fifty-four
patients participated in the present study. In order to measure the variables examined in this research, The
Questionnaire of demographic and contextual information for Patient, The Outcome Questionnaire-45 (OQ®-
42.2), The Client Attachment to Therapist Scale (CATS) and Treatment Motivation Questionnaire (TMQ) were
used.
Results: The findings of the research showed that the client attachment to therapist, treatment motivation,
secure attachment pattern, avoidant attachment pattern and ambivalent attachment pattern are predictors of
premature dropout from psychotherapy and counseling (P<0.01). In the last regression analysis model, the
value of adjusted coefficient of determination was 0.741 and it indicates that the predictor variables of the
current research predict 74% of the changes in premature dropout from psychotherapy and counseling.
Conclusions: In the present study, an attempt was made to gain a deep understanding of the impact of the client
attachment to therapist and the treatment motivation on premature dropout from psychotherapy and counseling
by patients. The current research is