The Vanderbilt Negative Indicators Scale (VNIS), an instrument designed to quantify characteristics of the patient, the therapist, and their interactions, was developed as part of an investigation of negative effects in psychotherapy by the Vanderbilt Psychotherapy Research Team. Revision of the original 25-item scale has proceeded in two major stages, i.e., an intensive review of project files to create additional VNIS items and the development of items to preserve the clinical relevance and inter-rater reliability of the instrument. Research team members (N=3) and two clinically-sophisticated judges rated therapy sessions from the project files to assess the inter-rater reliability of the revised 42-item VNIS. Results suggest that the VNIS is a promising method for detecting signs of ineffective and harmful psychotherapy early in a therapeutic relationship. (Author/HLM)