YAVIS (sometimes "YAVIS Syndrome") is an acronym that stands for " Young, Attractive, Verbal, Intelligent, and Successful ."   The term was coined by University of Minnesota professor William Schofield in his 1964 book Psychotherapy: The Purchase of Friendship in which he claimed to have demonstrated that mental health professionals often have a positive bias towards clients exhibiting these traits. In other words, individuals with these characteristics are assumed to represent a psychotherapist’s “ideal patient.” Schofield explained that such a bias may in turn predispose the professional to work harder to help these clients  . Such an inclination, although mostly unconscious, was thought to be driven by an expectation that clients with such traits would be motivated to work harder in therapy, thereby increasing the therapist's hope that the treatment would be effective  . Further, this process would work to enhance the therapist's experience of him/herself as competent, which may help explain why YAVIS clients are unconsciously seen as more desirable.
YAVIS (sometimes "YAVIS Syndrome") is an acronym that stands for " young, attractive, verbal, intelligent, and successful ." It describes a group of patients that are said to be preferred by mental health professionals. It is based on the perception that this group is characteristically and without external intervention able to form a more positive therapeutic relationship. Origin The term was coined by University of Minnesota professor William Schofield in his 1964 book Psychotherapy: The Purchase of Friendship in which he claimed to have demonstrated that mental health professionals often have a positive bias towards clients exhibiting the YAVIS traits. In other words, individuals with these characteristics are assumed to represent a psychotherapist’s “ideal patient.” Schofield explained that such a bias may in turn predispose the professional to work harder to help these clients at the expense of the patients who have much greater needs . Such an inclination, although mostly unconscious, was thought to be driven by an expectation that clients with such traits would be motivated to work harder in therapy, thereby increasing the therapist's hope that the treatment would be effective . Asians, for instance, are stereotyped as "inscrutable" making them less preferred than the YAVIS patients . Further, this process would work to enhance the therapist's experience of him/herself as competent, which may help explain why YAVIS clients are unconsciously seen as more desirable.
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Young, Attractive, Verbal, Intelligent, and Successful
young, attractive, verbal, intelligent, and successful
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It describes a group of patients that are said to be preferred by mental health professionals. It is based on the perception that this group is characteristically and without external intervention able to form a more positive therapeutic relationship.
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Origin
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these
the YAVIS
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at the expense of the patients who have much greater needs
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. Asians, for instance, are stereotyped as "inscrutable" making them less preferred than the YAVIS patients