Monitoring client feedback in the context of common factors theory in psychotherapy

BACKGROUND: The issue of common factors in psychotherapy remains debatable, while their study is important for improving the effectiveness of psychological care. Feedback scales serve as one of the tools for researching changes in a client’s condition during psychological assistance and assessing the client’s perception of communication with a specialist.

AIM: To identify the effectiveness of feedback scales (the Outcome Rating Scale and Session Rating Scale) for monitoring client work effectiveness.

METHODS: Modified versions of the Outcome Rating Scale and Session Rating Scale were used, adapted based on personality relations theory, as translated by Bogomolov, Dmitrievsky, and Pavlovsky. The Outcome Rating Scale was additionally modified by the authors of this article. The Outcome Rating Scale was administered at the beginning of each session, while the Session Rating Scale was used during the final 5–10 minutes of each session. Solution-focused brief therapy served as the primary therapeutic method, with Myasishchev’s personality relations theory forming the conceptual basis for shaping certain therapeutic hypotheses.

RESULTS: The analysis units included data from 151 sessions conducted with 34 clients (28 women and 6 men) aged 18 to 55. The sessions were conducted by a specialist with higher psychological education (one of the article’s co-authors). Normative values were obtained for the first and subsequent sessions using the modified Outcome Rating Scale; however, establishing normative values for the Session Rating Scale proved impossible due to extreme unevenness of score distribution. Both scales demonstrated good internal consistency. Data revealed significant changes from the first to last session in clients’ self-assessment of personal well-being, family/intimate relationship quality, general well-being, therapist-client relationship perception, and overall session evaluation.

CONCLUSION: The Outcome Rating Scale and Session Rating Scale are reliable tools for monitoring changes in client status and therapeutic relationship quality, and can be used to assess the effectiveness of psychological care.