As discussed in my other blogs, there are different types of mental health practitioners, and different theoretical frameworks on how to help people with their psychological and life challenges. Since the 1990s, comprehensive research spanning multiple disciplines of therapy suggests that it is common factors across all these approaches that largely account for positive outcomes of therapy.
The common factor accounting for the biggest proportion of change (around 40%) is what the client brings to therapy – their willingness and ability to understand themselves and be helped. This is good news; when a person turns up for therapy, chances are, they are already quite ready to explore their difficulties and take new actions.
The second most significant common factor (around 30%) is the quality and strength of the relationship between client and therapist. As the therapeutic relationship is often regarded as the central mechanism of change in therapy, I chose to undertake my research in this area and shed more light on this important process.
My research involved interviewing clients regarding the pivotal events in their therapy that led to the strengthening of their relationship with their therapist. What the results suggest is that when the ‘fit’ between client and therapist is right, the trust and faith develops quickly, enabling the client to explore their concerns deeply. This emphasises the importance of clients feeling comfortable with their therapist – that they feel accepted and understood, that they like and feel liked by their therapist, and that their therapist’s approach feels right for them.
My research also suggests that the client-therapist relationship is strengthened when therapists are able to attune to and meet their clients core emotional needs – particularly needs that were unmet either in childhood or in other relationships. These core needs include a therapist showing genuine interest and care for the client, affirming them, being available and flexible when the client is in need, honouring and holding the client’s strong emotions, and accepting the client no matter what they say or do.
For many people, this experience in therapy constitutes a ‘corrective emotional experience’, disconfirming their beliefs about themselves and others, and helping to heal wounds of the past that may be contributing to their current psychological, relationship and life difficulties. In experiencing the therapist’s unconditional acceptance of them, the therapist’s genuine interest, and the therapist’s ability to hear and hold what others could not – a kind of ‘re-parenting’ – individuals become more self-accepting. The ‘secure base’ of the relationship with their therapist, then enables people to take new steps that can lead to positive changes in their emotional wellbeing, their relationships and their lives.
If you would like to know more about my research, please feel free to get in touch.