Patients must be supported to carry on with their crucial, often complex, work. But how does a therapist motivate their patient to return to this uncomfortable place? By tracking progress in therapy.
The Electronic Age has brought with it many opportunities. Psychotherapy, especially psychotherapy that’s built around feedback-informed treatment, has richly benefited from much of this new technology. Using these technological advancements in ...
The other day, I told my wife that the two most important things I learned in graduate school were:
1) how little I know; and
2) I had doomed myself to a life of perpetual student-hood.
Put another way, every time I reached ...
People, who could use support confronting their mental health needs, are often challenged in seeking that support. Two significant reasons why folks don't seek support for mental health issues are:
1) They believe they don't need...
The best decisions are evidence-based. Not experience. Not gut feelings, but real, hard evidence. In so many aspects of our lives, we think nothing of expecting others to base their decisions on evidence.
When you take your car into the sh...
Therapy is a unique process that looks and feels different for everyone. No matter the approach you take in your practice, you and your patients can benefit from implementing the Outcome Rating Scale in your sessions. It’s fast to administer and puts qu...
During talk therapy sessions, it is not always easy to track a patient’s progress due to a number of inhibitors. For example, patients may not be comfortable sharing their honest frustrations with their counselor, which results in a low-quality mental health service. Therefore, it is essential to have data-driven systems in place where healthcare professionals can ensure the progression of their patients by addressing issues as they arise.
We’ve heard time and time again, therapy/counseling doesn’t work. At MyOutcomes we believe therapy can work if a psychological outcome measurement tool is used.
What are Psychological Outcomes Measurement Tools?
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Psychological outcome measurement tools are essential to counselors/therapists. Think of it as a signaling system that tells you when you are “on” or “off” track. At the heart of these signals is feedback from your client, session by session. Without a signaling system, a counselor/therapist is providing therapy based on “feel” or, general impressions from the client, which isn’t always accurate. With a signaling system, you’re giving clients a “voice” as part of the therapy process.
How often does your therapist give you questionnaires to complete to see how you’re doing or progressing in therapy? Feedback-informed treatment, or FIT, does just that — it uses a client’s feedback to manage their treatment. This approach empowers the client and gives them a voice in their treatment.
Introduction:
There’s a growing body of literature that suggests that psychological outcome measurement is important for mental health agencies. This has been most noticeable in the field of psychotherapy, where understanding whether the...
To see progress, one needs to have a comparative analysis of the past and the present. It’s an age-old practice that in order to have a better perspective of required efforts and loopholes you need to track your work consistently. Hence, to sta...
The “Outcome Rating Scale,” better known as the ORS, is an assessment tool that has been used for over two decades in various therapeutic settings. The ORS helps facilitate improved counselor-client relationships to identify the most effective strategies for each person.
Graduate students stepping into counseling may be bearing the weight of the mental health crisis. Not only do these counseling programs prepare students for what they need to know today, but also for tomorrow. The key to this preparation is knowing tha...
In today's world, numerous organizations compete for finite financial resources designated to address the most vital concerns facing us today. In the last several years, mental health has begun to get a small slice of that pie.
A FIT outcomes app like MyOutcomes helps a therapist’s practice by giving them a tool to both record and analyze client feedback seamlessly.
It ain't over ‘til the fat lady sings’ is an operatic reference to the rather large Valkyrie, Brunhilde, who, wearing her horned cap and holding her sword and shield, sings an aria signaling the end of a Wagnerian opera. In the English language, we...
“Why don’t more therapists do FIT?” a grad student asked me during a recent consultation. Seated nearby in the room were department managers, supervisors, and many experienced practitioners.
“Well,” I said, queuing up my usual, diplomatic answer...
Go to the International Center for Clinical Excellence (ICCE) website to see all the studies done using the Outcomes Rating Scale and the Session Rating Scale. There has been a ton of research.
This is why Read more
The ORS or, “Outcome Rating Scale” is an assessment tool that has been used for the past two decades in a variety of therapeutic settings. The ORS helps to facilitate improved coun...
Scientific Reports recently published an article outlining the need to prioritize behavioral health concerns as the world recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, the article quotes the Tulane University School of Social Work in New ...
Learn how client feedback can be quite positive to improve results.
This is why MyOutcomes Feedback-Informed Treatment is so important.
...The answer might surprise you!
This is why MyOutcomes Feedback-Informed Treatment is so important.
...How MyOutcomes’ simple web-based tool helps therapists achieve greater efficacy and success in therapy with elegance.
William of Ockham, of "Ockham's Razor" fame, believed that the best explanation was the o...
With a growing number of individuals seeking therapeutic services over the past few years, counselors need better access to tools that help them grow their practice and effectively serve clients.
At MyOutcomes, we offer clinical measures to help ...
Should therapists/counselors assess themselves?
How can you tell if your clinicians are really connecting with their clients?
Well, one approach would be to ask the clinicians. Clinical directors wo...
Today, thanks to telehealth platforms and virtual counseling, more people have access to mental health services than ever before. And with what has...
Why should you consider making Feedback-Informed Treatment (FIT) a part of your clinical practice?
...Within the mental health arena, it can be difficult to measure a patient’s progress. How can we truly know if a patient is feeling less anxious? More satisfied with life? If they’re experiencing fewer symptoms of PTSD? Outcome measures can ascribe quant...
How much time do mental health professionals spend on improving their skills? How much room for improvement is there, really? How can you measure improvement to see if you're actually getting better?
Being a therapist is not easy!...
Sagesse’s core mission is to “disrupt structures of domestic abuse.” Sagesse uses MyOutcomes' Feedback-Informed Treatments. Carrie shares her experience.
How does your agency s...
“The establishment of a therapeutic alliance can be a daunting task, even for those therapists who are generally successful.”
For some time now, it has been well-understood that the alliance between the therapist and the client plays a s...
When searching for common health services such as counseling or family medicine, patients have access to a variety of different providers. For this reason, it is the task of each healthcare facility to promote positive outcomes and maintain retention. U...
An all-in-one solution is possible! Easily integrate your EHR with MyOutcomes today using Plug and Play.
Many therapists/councelors are looking to move their agencies to become evidence based. To become evidence based is a journey. At t...
Why is this important?
It is important that there be a strong connection between client and psychotherapist/counselor for several reasons. The most important reason is the most obvious: the client may be exposing profound feelings, beli...
We can give a hungry person one fish for dinner or a fishing rod, but for them to eat regularly, we need to teach them to fish.
Educators tend to focus on mastery of a skill, rather than the psychological experience of using said skill. ...
The work of therapists and counsellors is generally considered unquantifiable. Addressing patients' emotional quality of life doesn't produce immediate results or deliver linear improvements.
One of the biggest frustrations for s...
Why guess when you don’t have to?
Let's face it, assumptions--related to gut feel--can be hit and miss. Without the right kind of feedback in therapy, therapists/counselors rely on imprecise assumptions. The questions we have for t...
Getting good, accurate feedback, session by session is a must for all psychotherapist/counselors.
Getting good, accurate feedback session by session is a must. Sometimes clients may fear having the face-to-face discussi...
Evidence-based practice relies on more than just theoretical prowess and a gut feeling.
Evidence-based practice relies on more than just theoretical prowess and the gut feelings of the mental health professional, although these are criti...
Are you committed to improving the mental health of your clients? MyOutcomes can help behavioral health agencies by: 1) strengthening the therapeutic alliance, 2) increasing successful outcomes, 3) reducing dropouts, and 4) shortening wait lists.
Oftentimes, clients do not feel comfortable speaking up, this is why it’s important to have rating scales.
The Session Rating Scale and Outcome Rating Scale work hand-in-hand to produce the best possible results while working with a behavioral health specialist.
When asking a client for feedback using the Feedback-Informed Treatment (FIT) tools, a therapist/counselor pays heed to the client’s state of mind. FIT engages both parties. This breeds synergy and understanding where client and counselor/therapist are bound together by a common goal.
As a therapist/counselor being able to gauge, and even measure, the therapeutic alliance is critical to care. If you suspect your therapy sessions aren’t working perhaps a new approach is in order. MyOutcomes can tell you if you are back on track.
The short answer is: absolutely.
Why wait until a client leaves your agency to find out what went wrong. With Feedback-Informed Treatment (FIT), clinicians/therapists get feedback session by session.
The reason why gatheri...
How MyOutcomes can reduce concerns about adverse effects of telehealth on psychotherapy and therapeutic rapport.
What is telehealth?
The internet has foundationally changed the way human...
Agencies that adopt Feedback-Informed Treatment (FIT) best practices can expect to see client improvements up to 2.5 time greater than treatment without measures. The Session Rating Scale (SRS) and Outcome Rating Scale (ORS)--tools recently introduced to psychotherapy--benefit the therapist/counsellor and the client.
Many business owners are paying monthly for health plans / EAP (Employee Assistance Providers) to offer mental health counselling to their employees. However, as a business owner, are you truly getting value for the money you’re spending? If your EAP provider used MyOutcomes, you would know.
In the field of psychotherapy, patient experience is the foundation of quality care. In recent years, we have seen a surge in digital alternatives to in-person medical services. Telehealth platforms enable therapists and counsellors to reach a broader r...
In the fast evolving sector of mental health change is certain.
Clients join agencies. Clients leave agencies. Sometimes, they return. Sometimes they return and need to be accessed by a different administrative branch or ...
… the therapeutic alliance influences outcome not because it is healing in its own right, but because it allows the patient to accept, follow, and believe in the treatment.
The quest to understand what the driving forces behind psychotherapy are ...
Feedback is a big part of knowing what’s working and what isn’t in your current approach to something, and therapy is no different. It’s especially important to get a solid understanding of this when you’re working with a child, though it can also be es...
Behavioral therapy has been an integral part of society's health and wellness industry for decades now. However, one key aspect has been missing--the ability to effectively measure progress.
How can counsellors/therapists tell if a treatment ...
Progress is the foundation of therapy. However, gauging whether clients are making meaningful progress is difficult. Understanding this is vital. Effective treatment strengthens engagement, shortens waitlists, and reduces dropouts. If tracking progress ...
Evidence-based treatments play a significant role in evidence-based practices (EBP) in psychotherapy and general health care. A long laundry list of EBP has been developed with the goal of ensuring treatment efficacy and patient safety. The United State...
The therapeutic alliance, or the provider-client bond, is known to exercise strong influence over client outcomes. That’s why a session-by-session understanding of how clients feel about the therapeutic relationship is crucial to enabling positive outco...
When you’re a therapist and you lose patients who you don’t feel like are ready to discontinue therapy, you want to know why they stop seeing you. With an outcome tracker from MyOutcomes, you can get this information and record feedback to better serve ...
As the stigma that surrounded mental health issues for so long continues to fade away, an increasing number of people are now starting to seek the care they need. This is especially true now after mental health problems were only exasperated by the COVI...
As the need for health care services increases, mental health professionals are communicating more with patients through the Internet than ever before. We are always finding new ways to make access to mental health care more convenient for patients.
Telehealth is a big part of the future of the healthcare industry. However, physical clinics will continue to operate as the standard for patient care. Because of the hybrid future that healthcare providers will need to learn to work with, progr...
It’s a challenge for therapists and counselors to get their clients to see the progress they’ve made in therapy. They may not feel as though they’re getting closer to their therapy goals, even when they’re working hard at every session. Self-imp...
