Therapists' beliefs and attitudes towards client deception

The current study investigated therapists' beliefs about indicators of deception and attitudes towards client deception. Participants were recruited from various APA accredited internship sites. Participants completed a Demographics Questionnaire, the Detection of Deception Questionnaire, and the Therapist Attitudes Towards Deception Scale. The questionnaires were used to assess therapists' beliefs and attitudes towards client deception. The results indicated that therapists possess many inaccurate beliefs about indicators of deception. Therapists held the most accurate beliefs about paraverbal indicators of deception compared to nonverbal and verbal indicators. Therapists also held a number of negative attitudes towards client deception. There was not a statistically significant relationship between therapists' attitudes and their worldviews. Further implications of therapists ' beliefs and attitudes towards deception are discussed.