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 would certainly be wise to gather feedback from their counselors. However, there’s one problem with this: therapists tend to think that their own skills are well above average, and their ability to self-report may not lead to accurate results. In fact, according to the journal Psychological Reports,
“[r]esults indicated that 25% of mental health professionals viewed their skill to be at the 90th percentile when compared to their peers, and none viewed themselves as below average. Further, when compared to the published literature, clinicians tended to overestimate their rates of client improvement and underestimate their rates of client deterioration.”
In other words, according to research, therapists / counselors aren’t great assessors of their own practices.
With MyOutcomes, you can see if ‘connections’ are deteriorating or improving!
Through MyOutcomes, clinicians and directors can see progress as indicated on a chart. Clinicians can see if ORS and SRS scores are improving, and they can then assume that the connection grows stronger, leading to a more likelihood of positive results. Adversely, clinicians can see if scores are deteriorating, and thus, actions can be taken to improve the connection or even save the client from departing therapy before any meaningful change has transpired. Could you do that if you simply asked therapists to self-assess?
In sum, MyOutcomes gives clinicians and directors tools to really see how strong the connection between client and counselor are. The results are elicited from clients themselves and not from counselors trying to guess how the client feels. As such, you can see, truly, if your clinical team is connecting with their clients.
And it’s never been easier to integrate MyOutcomes into practices today. Click here to find out.