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, beliefs, and thoughts to the counselor. If there's no 'connection' between client and counselor, getting the client to 'open up' and trust may very well be impossible. If the client never opens up, self-exploration and ultimately change will probably never transpire.
Generally, this connection is referred to the "Therapeutic Alliance" or "Working Alliance." A strong alliance has been shown time and time again to be a leading indicator of successful outcomes in therapy. Or as the journal Frontiers in Psychology concluded, "The emerging picture suggests that the quality of the client–therapist alliance is a reliable predictor of positive clinical outcome independent of the variety of psychotherapy approaches and outcome measures."
In short, this 'connection' between client and counselor is of critical importance in psychotherapy.
What can be done, then?
Well, MyOutcomes allows clients to assess both the Outcome Rating and Session Rating, and does so utilizing scientifically-researched questions. Plus, clients can do so privately before and after each session, not in the presence of the counselor, so the answers can be less-biased, fresh-in-mind, and unafraid of hurt feelings. As a result, a more unbiased and accurate assessment of the quality of the 'connection' can be gleaned and can be done so easily and quickly.
And it's never been easier to integrate MyOutcomes into practices today. Click here to find out.