Theses and Dissertations Collection

The purpose of this study was to: (1) examine the patient-therapist relationship and physical rehabilitation motivation, and (2) investigate the patient-therapist relationship and reported rehabilitation outcomes. A survey was developed examining six major hypotheses that was completed by 474 participants who were asked questions about their relationship with their therapist, mindsets, motivation and perceived rehabilitation outcomes. Significant differences were found between mindset clusters for both motivation and rehabilitation outcomes. The patient-therapist relationship was moderately correlated with patient motivation. Growth mindsets correlated with positive relationships while fixed mindsets correlated negatively with therapeutic relationships. Identified and intrinsic behavioral regulation were significant predictors of adherence to rehabilitation protocols and perceived change. Patient-therapist gender match was used as a moderator and significant differences were found between groups for the percent variance of motivation explained by the relationship, male patients with male therapists accounting for almost three times the variance of the other gender combinations. More research seems needed to expand the body of knowledge in psychology of physical rehabilitation.