Therapist-client five-factor personality similarity: a brief report.

A five-factor personality inventory and other measures were administered to 39 clients and 15 therapists. Global therapist-client personality similarity and client neuroticism were moderately to strongly associated with lower symptoms. For female clients, global personality similarity and client extraversion were moderately associated with therapeutic alliance. These preliminary results warrant further investigation. If results are replicated, intake personality matching may lead to decreased premature terminations and better outcomes in many kinds of psychosocial treatments.