Description:

It’s not a pretty picture. Available evidence indicates that the effectiveness of psychotherapy has not improved in spite of 100 years of theorizing and research. What would help? Not learning a new model of therapy. And no, not attending another CEU event or sorting through that stack of research journals by your desk. A simple, valid, and reliable alternative exists for maximizing the effectiveness and efficiency of treatment based on using ongoing client feedback to empirically tailor services to the individual client’s needs and characteristics. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration recently deemed feedback informed treatment (FIT) an evidence-based practice. Research on the approach conducted at multiple sites across a wide range of clients and presenting complaints indicates that clinicians can improve the outcomes of those cases most at risk for failure by as much as 65% without having to change their preferred treatment approach or learn any new treatment techniques.

Educational Objectives:

1. Explain how to track outcome using a simple and reliable measure.
2. Demonstrate how to monitor and improve the therapeutic alliance via the use of a simple and reliable alliance measure.
3. Describe how to use alliance and outcome data to identify cases “at risk” for treatment failure and/or drop out from services.

*Sessions may be edited for content and to preserve confidentiality*