KEYS TO ENHANCING YOUR THERAPEUTIC DECISION-MAKING FOR BETTER TREATMENT OUTCOMES

KEYS TO IMPROVING YOUR THERAPEUTIC DECISION-MAKING FOR BETTER TREATMENT OUTCOMES

In this challenging era of having to manage higher caseloads and increasingly be held more accountable for delivering positive treatment outcomes, it is quite easy for therapists to fall prey to one-size-fits-all thinking and therapeutic mismatching occurring with the timing of intervention selection and clients’ unique stages of readiness for change. As amazing as our brains are with multitasking, they do not operate well under high stress and encourage us to pursue shortcuts to problem solving. These shortcuts or cognitive biases drive us to latching on to our initial hypotheses or beliefs about our clients’ difficulties, pursuing quick fix and too complex solutions, and the possible replication of unsuccessful past attempted solutions. Furthermore, if we fail to solicit regular feedback from our clients regarding the quality of our relationships and their satisfaction with therapeutic change process, treatment can remain at a standstill or worse yet, the clients may drop out of therapy.

As a result of attending this “hands-on” practice-oriented workshop, participants will come away being able to do the following:

  • Identify specific cognitive biases that can adversely impact on therapeutic decision-making
  • Employ reflection-in-action, reflection-on-action, and critical thinking tools to counter the cognitive biases
  • Identify with clients what they consider the “right” problem to change first among multiple client concerns
  • Honor clients’ preferences, expectations, and theories of change
  • Use the Blueprint for Change Plan for empowering clients to have the lead voice with treatment planning and decision-making
  • Establish with clients well-formulated and realistic treatment goals
  • Guidelines for tailor-fitting, selecting, and implementing therapeutic experiments and rituals to match clients’ unique needs and characteristics
  • Solicit session-by-session client feedback to adjust our therapeutic stance and decision-making to better meet their needs and increase their satisfaction with treatment process
  • Empower clients to stay on track and constructively manage inevitable slips

The workshop format will combine information-rich didactic presentation, use of videotape examples, and skill-building exercises.

Whats New?

Due to popular worldwide demand for a longer more intensive training experience in our model, our Partners team is now offering a 5-Day and 4-Day Advanced International Certificate Training Program in Collaborative Strengths-Based Brief Family Therapy. In addition to lots of videotape examples of major therapeutic tools and strategies of the Collaborative Strengths-Based Brief Family Therapy approach, there will be both daily live couple and family therapy consultations and skill-building exercises. Finally, we will cover effective strategies for working with some of the toughest clinical dilemmas, such as: long-term self-injurers, suicidal, violent, eating disorder, heavy substance abusing clients, high-conflict couples, families with multiple symptom-bearers, post-divorce conflict families, and more. Click on the LEVEL I and II training descriptions and topics covered below.

Matthew’s book Pathways to Change: Brief Therapy with Difficult Adolescents, Second Edition was just published in Korean. A copy was presented to me at my workshop in Seoul, which was hosted by the Korean Solution-Focused Brief Therapy Association.

Matthew’s new book: Working with High-Risk Adolescents: A Collaborative Strengths-Based Therapy Approach, has been published by Guilford Press, Inc.

To view a downloadable flyer of my book, click here