Therapist competence and therapeutic alliance are important in the treatment of health anxiety (hypochondriasis)

The role of treatment delivery factors (i.e., therapist adherence, therapist competence, and therapeutic alliance) is rarely investigated in psychotherapeutic treatment for health anxiety. This study aimed to investigate the role of the assessment perspective for the evaluation of treatment delivery factors and their relevance for treatment outcome. Therapist adherence, therapist competence, and therapeutic alliance were evaluated by independent raters, therapists, patients, and supervisors in 68 treatments. Patients with severe health anxiety (hypochondriasis) were treated with cognitive therapy or exposure therapy. Treatment outcome was assessed with a standardized interview by independen…