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CLIENT FEEDBACK
Client Feedback of Their Therapy
A unique feature of the Registry is that we will invite couples to provide feedback about their experience with the therapists on the Registry. We want couples to tell us whether their therapist was competent and supportive of their marriage—because this is what we are promising with the Registry. Therapists will be asked to participate in this process as part of their responsibility for being included in the Registry.
Specifically, we will ask couples to rate their experience in therapy along dimensions that researchers have found to be important to successful therapy: a) the therapist’s empathetic connection with each partner, b) the therapist’s balance between the needs of each partner, c) the therapist’s ability to structure sessions well, and d) the therapist’s ability to offer specific ways for couples to improve their relationship.
In addition, we will ask whether the therapist was supportive of their marital commitment, how successful overall the therapy was, and whether the clients would recommend the therapist to a friend. We will give clients an opportunity to answer open-ended questions about why they came to therapy and what was helpful or not helpful. We will solicit feedback from couples within a few weeks of beginning therapy, and again six months later. We want to share these evaluations with the therapists so that the whole process is open, but will respect couples’ anonymity if they do not want their feedback shared with the therapist.
Finally, because we understand that sometimes good therapy can lead to a client being unhappy with the therapist, we will approach these evaluations with clinical sensitivity. For example, we know that even good marital therapy can end in divorce and that sometimes a spouse who only wants the other person to change will be upset with a therapist who expects both parties to change. However, we expect that therapists who are qualified for the Registry will generally have clients who are pleased with the therapy and who believe the therapist helped them achieve the best outcome that was possible for them. If a therapist has a pattern of dissatisfied clients, we will discuss the situation with therapist to see if the Registry is a good fit for the therapist.