Evidence Based Relationships: Matching Clients to the Right Therapist Really Matters

The article below is all about what we try to do at Compatible Counseling Solutions: match clients with the right therapist to meet their needs.  The national directories of therapists are helpful in providing some basic biographical information on therapists that gives you an idea of what models of treatment they use and what emotional or relationship issues they have the most experience in addressing.  While this is a huge improvement over choosing a therapist just by their address, or by a recommendation that they’re “good” it’s still not enough.  Most therapist biographies say that having a strong relationship is crucial to success in therapy, and they’ll tell you that they provide a safe environment for you to express yourself and feel heard.  Really though, there’s so much more to it than that.  For example, some people don’t feel comfortable with an unstructured approach that is based in reflection and validation. Others don’t feel heard with a therapist who is structured and uses a lot of direction.

In the attached article the author describes the relationship factors that play into choosing the right therapist. The therapists that work with Compatible Counseling Solutions have a variety of backgrounds and expertise’s, but also vary in how direct and or structured they are in their work with clients, how and if they incorporate spirituality in their work, whether insight or problem solving are their primary approaches, and whether they are primarily strength based or are more focused on problematic issues.  These are some of the therapist characteristics that are important when matching a client to a therapist. http://www.psychotherapynetworker.org/magazine/recentissues/1304-clinicians-digest