What makes therapy successful?
Psychotherapy is the longest-running form of psychological intervention. The discipline has been the subject of intensive research since its inception. But what makes psychotherapy successful? What are the hallmarks of therapy that achieves the desired therapeutic outcome?
Research by Cooper & Norcross (2016) suggests that working with a therapist who matches your preferences is an exceptionally important factor in determining the success of therapy.
Helpspace has been built from the ground up to take client preferences into account when seeking online therapy.
Which preferences help to establish a good client-therapist relationship?
You may have specific criteria when looking for online counselling, for example, the gender or age range of your therapist.
These preferences are important to consider as you may have reasons why it feels easier to trust and open up to a therapist with certain characteristics. However, some other preferences, specific to how you wish to work in therapy, are important to consider as well.
The Helpspace questionnaire helps you to quickly determine these and shows you therapists who work in the way you have chosen.
In need of support? Get started here.
Time focus
When thinking about therapy, many of us think of lying on a couch talking about our childhood.
However, therapy can focus on different periods of time, depending on why you are coming for therapy.
You may wish to use therapy to process and resolve difficult experiences from the past. You may prefer to focus on the present and future through more solution-focussed counselling, using therapy to manage symptoms, responses to live events, or to achieve a goal.
Directivity
Directivity considers how much your therapist decides the topics you talk about in therapy and the means of addressing those topics.
Some types of therapy require the therapist to be more or less directive. For example,some types of CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) are quite directive because your therapist is teaching you specific skills.
By contrast, some humanistic therapiesare intentionally non-directive because the aim is for you as the client to develop your own sense of what is right for you.
Different people will want different levels of directivity from their therapist.
Challenge
All therapists, no matter the type of therapy they offer, will listen to you with empathy and without judgment.
You may feel you need a very safe and warm relationship with your therapist to work on the issues which have brought you to therapy. For example, if relationships are difficult for you, or you are dealing with trauma.
For others, you may want your therapist to challenge you when necessary, perhaps if you are trying to break a pattern in your life which you have identified as unhelpful.
In need of support? Get started here.
Emotional vs. cognitive focus
Most therapists will work with your emotions, your thoughts, and body responses. However, certain therapists may focus more on emotions, while others may focus more on thoughts as a way to address the issues you want to work on.
These are all personal preferences, and there is no right way to do therapy which will be successful for everyone. Rather doing therapy the right way for you with a therapist who fits your preferences, will make therapy more successful for you.
Your working relationship with your therapist
Your connection with your therapist is one of the most important factors in successful therapy.
- The quality of your working relationship with your therapist accounts for approximately 30% of whether you find counselling useful.
- The type of therapy you have accounts for only 15% of whether counselling is successful.
Your preferences as a client may also extend to accessibility issues. For example, if you live in a remote area finding, for example, a CBT therapist nearby may be challenging. Clients that have a disability which affects their mobility may also encounter difficulties finding the right therapist in the vicinity. In such circumstances, the client may consider online alternatives as a more viable option.
Helpspace's questionnaire is based on findings from reputable research. This will help you connect with therapists who most closely meet your preferences for therapy, making a good connection more likely from the beginning.