Psychotherapy length of stay and outcome: A meta-analysis of the effect of therapist sex

This meta-analysis combined results from 64 published and unpublished studies that sought to determine the effect of therapist sex on the outcome of psychotherapy. Therapist sex was found to be a poor predictor of outcome for both male and female clients. Level of therapist training, theoretical orientation of treatment, quality of study, age of clients, and number of treatment sessions did not moderate the minimal effect of therapist sex on the outcome of psychotherapy. We conclude that the sex of the therapist has little overall effect on the outcome of psychotherapy.