… 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 began with Hans Jurgen Eysenck in 1952. He, and subsequent researchers, discovered that the therapeutic alliance-the relationship between the client and counsellor-was the single most impactful component affecting therapeutic outcomes.
One of these researchers, Dr. Edward Brodin, proposed that the therapeutic alliance consisted of three parts:
- the agreement on the goals of the treatment
- agreement on the tasks,
- the development of a personal bond made up of reciprocal positive feelings.
To Dr. Bordin, 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. Winning the confidence of clients sets the course of therapy and the outcome itself.
The good news is, thanks to MyOutcomes, therapeutic alliance can now be measured and tracked with a high level of accuracy. MyOutcomes’ Session Rating Scale (SRS) is a patient self-reporting tool which lets patients easily share feedback after each session. This also allows the therapist/counsellor to improve or redirect treatment based on the feedback received, strengthening the therapeutic alliance. Therapists can actively see what’s working and what isn’t. Doing so reduces dropouts, improves effectiveness allowing for less wait times, and best of all: leads to better client outcomes.
Click here to find out how easy it is to integrate SRS into your practice today.