Do you tend to think of mental and physical health as two entirely separate things? If so, you may be surprised to learn that they both share a strong link, with each heavily impacting the other. That’s one reason why people who try to improve their mental health by abusing illicit substances often experience a decline in both their mental and physical health. Fortunately, a good mental health rehab program may help individuals struggling with mental health and addictions. Here’s how clinicians use feedback informed therapy to maximize the effectiveness of their mental health counseling services.
Why Is Mental Health Counseling Important?
Mental health counseling gives patients the guidance, support, and tools they need to get through life’s challenges in a healthier way. It teaches resilience and coping mechanisms that empower individuals to take control of their own behaviors. It also helps patients recognize early indicators of mental health struggles so they can receive psychotherapy interventions before things spiral out of control.
For individuals struggling with addiction, mental health counseling can provide effective strategies for dealing with triggers and managing substance use. It can also teach healthier coping mechanisms and set the foundation for self-awareness, resilience, and recovery. If you or a loved one struggles with severe depression, anxiety, or substance abuse, a mental health rehab treatment program can help. For best results, look for a program that uses feedback informed therapy to guide mental health counseling.
What Is Feedback Informed Therapy?
Feedback informed mental health counseling is an effective, personalized therapy approach that regularly solicits feedback directly from the client receiving treatment. Then, clinicians use that feedback to analyze and modify treatment decisions. This approach puts the client’s feedback front and center and empowers them to have a say in their own therapy process.
Feedback informed therapy offers a variety of benefits over less personalized psychotherapy treatments. It is shown to improve client well-being, enhance the effectiveness of treatment, and decrease dropout rates. Here are some of the features of a mental health rehab recovery program using feedback informed therapy.
Measurement-Based Care
Feedback informed therapy often incorporates aspects of measurement-based care (MBC) to assess how patients respond to treatment and make necessary treatment adjustments. An MBC approach typically includes the following:
- Routine collection of patient-reported outcomes
- Sharing progress scores and trends with the patient in a timely manner
- Utilizing client feedback and measurement data to adjust the clinician’s approach to rehab and mental health counseling
Patients who receive MBC-integrated treatments report a higher level of respect for providers and a higher level of engagement. Numerous MBC studies have also found reduced dropout rates and improved symptom outcomes when clinicians use this approach.
Continuous Treatment Adjustments
Because clinicians regularly review patient-reported data in a feedback informed therapy model, they can adjust treatment decisions as needed. They don’t just file their client feedback away and never look at it again. Instead, they use the information they receive to modify therapy types and intensities, modalities, or focus areas. This makes it possible for each patient to receive mental health rehab treatments that are completely personalized to their needs.
The beauty of a continuous treatment adjustment model is that it actively shapes the direction of each therapy session. If the client responds that a certain approach isn’t working well for them, the therapist can change their approach. This model might involve multiple adjustments to therapy type and intensity. Eventually, with continuous client feedback, the therapist can figure out the best way to meet each client’s unique needs.
Outcome-Based Accountability
Patient-reported outcomes are crucial to any feedback informed mental health therapy rehab program. Using standardized accountability measurements, therapists can objectively measure their progress. Validated scales and questionnaires are two forms of outcome-based tools therapists use to see tangible evidence of success.
If a therapist’s outcome-based measurements yield unsatisfactory results, they can use client feedback to determine where they’ve fallen short. Then, they can work with the client to change course and experience more favorable treatment outcomes. Therapists must be flexible and responsive to patient feedback and outcome information if they use a feedback informed approach to therapy.
Patient Satisfaction
Patient satisfaction is the key to successful mental health rehab services. The primary goal of the feedback informed treatment approach is to help clients experience full recovery from major mental health concerns and addictions.
Pathways routinely collects patient feedback on services so we can fine-tune our treatment approaches to meet the needs of each individual. We’re especially careful to do this with our remote patients to ensure optimal service quality and patient outcomes.
Conclusion
At Pathways, we want to help each patient live a life of freedom and meaning. Our feedback informed therapy approach helps people escape the debilitating chains of addiction and mental illness. If you or a loved one is currently fighting against a mental illness or substance abuse, please consider our outcome-based recovery programs. Using a measurement-based care approach, we can develop a personalized treatment plan that’s targeted to your unique needs. Call us at (801) 895-3006 or fill out our online contact form to schedule your free consultation and assessment.
