Extra-therapeutic Client Factors (40 per cent of effectiveness). These include the client's personal strengths, weaknesses and other characteristics including beliefs and attitudes; and also factors in the client's environment that help or hinder.
Therapist: Identify and talk about strengths while helping client to deal with weaknesses. Tailor solutions to client's beliefs and values.
Therapeutic Relationship (30 per cent of effectiveness). Empathy, warmth, acceptance (i.e. Rogerian factors) perceived by client.
Therapist: Be warm and empathic. Address issues the client wants to deal with i.e. work with the client's goals rather than those of your theoretical model. Be collaborative - don't dictate.
Realistic hope (15 per cent of effectiveness). This refers to the client's hopefulness about the outcome and the possibility of improvement.
Therapist: Communicate hopefulness about what can be achieved. Don't get stuck in the past - look also at what is possible now and in the future.
Model of counselling (15 per cent of effectiveness) Using the right approach for the particular client or situation. The approach should be tailored to the client's needs, beliefs and strengths.
Therapist: Be willing to change the approach/model to suit the needs of the client on the day
Source:WHAT WORKS IN COUNSELLING? US Evidence and Australian Experience
Keynote address presented by Dr. David Morawetz, clinical and counselling psychologist to the Annual Conference of the South Australian Financial Counsellors’ Association on 22 September 2006. With comments and case studies from Jan Pentland, financial counsellor, Eastern Access Community Health, Victoria.
