For people in therapy, an important part of the process of change is assessing what has been accomplished. There are a variety of methods to do this, although few are scientific approaches. Instead, patients/clients need to be monitoring progress toward their goals and checking in regularly with their therapists to assess progress. A recent opinion piece in the LA Times makes some other suggestions as well.

Be a good consumer of this personalized service and assess your progress. One way this is accomplished is to review the notes and goals that were established at the first session. This will reveal what progress has been made — or not. It’s quite possible that goals aren’t being reached but you’re simply feeling better having someone to talk to. This isn’t the healthiest set-up, as it could lead to becoming dependent on your therapist. An honest and skilled therapist should recognize this — and either set a new course of treatment or suggest a different therapist.

Although I disagree with the necessity of some of his points (e.g. therapy should include homework), it is a nice statement for people to make surethey are getting everything they can from their psychotherapy experience.

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    Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 31 Mar 2007
    Published on PsychCentral.com. All rights reserved.