#Feedback, #Therapy, #TherapyOutcomes
Do you ever wonder about breaking up with your therapist?
It is inevitable that at some point, especially in long-term therapy, the work can become stuck, stagnant or have reached the end of what’s available in that relationship. Often though, clients don’t share these thoughts with their therapist and in extreme cases simply drop out of therapy altogether. This leaves both the client and the therapist in limbo with the client often doubting the efficacy of therapy, or can feel like they must be untreatable, a lost cause. Therapists are left with their own feelings of surprise, loss and often, wondering what they did wrong.
Making room for regular, open and candid feedback is therefore one of the major methods of reducing drop-outs and improving the experience and outcomes of therapy for both clients and therapists. This can be formal or informal. Inviting clients to reflect on two questions can be extremely helpful in facilitating feedback on therapy;
- What is going well for you in our work together (if anything), and why?
- What is not going so well for you in our work together (if anything) and why?
There are of course any number of variations to these questions but the goal is for them to demonstrate the therapist’s openness and genuine curiosity about the client’s experience and offers rich opportunities to deepen and broaden the work, unsticking any sense of stagnation on the work. It may also initiate an often much needed discussion as to how a client will know when its time to leave therapy. Endings can be particularly hard so opening up regular opportunities for feedback are so very important.
Sometimes it is not just important but vitally necessary to say the unsayable in therapy.