Two clinical psychologists and 7 graduate clinical psychology students categorized verbatim transcripts (934 therapist statements) of therapists representing behavior, client-centered, and Gestalt therapy in terms of general and explicit structuring, interpretation, information-gathering, extratherapy changes, self-disclosure, reflection, speaking as client, situation clarification, provision of psychological knowledge, approval and reassurance, simple answer, laughter, simple acknowledgement, and/or simple inquiry-clarification. Results show that all therapists followed explicit microstrategies in their initial interviews, which included no more than 3 categories. The behavior therapist used predominantly a sequence of information-gathering, occasionally preceded and/or followed by interpretation. The client-centered therapist used primarily reflections or simple acknowledgement. The gestalt therapist used fluid sequences within and between information gathering, explicit structuring, and interpretation. These microstrategies were used across initial interviews with different clients. (35 ref)