Attitudes among therapists who do (or do not) implement feedback-informed treatment.

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Clinical Psychology
• Psychotherapy Research

Background:

• Feedback-informed treatment (FIT) is crucial for psychotherapy efficacy, involving client data collection to guide treatment.
• Despite ease of integration, many therapists do not utilize FIT measures.
• Understanding barriers to FIT adoption is essential for improving therapeutic outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze therapist attitudes and beliefs influencing the sustained use or discontinuation of FIT.
• To identify factors differentiating therapists who persisted with FIT from those who disengaged.

Main Methods:

• Survey analysis of therapists whose FIT use was incentivized and supported.
• Comparison of two groups: persistent FIT users (n=30) and those who discontinued FIT (n=19).

Main Results:

• Persisters viewed FIT as more valid and were more open to external information.
• Disengagers held more antagonistic views toward measurement and trusted their own judgment more.
• Significant differences were found in reliance on intuition, but not feedback propensities.

Conclusions:

• Therapist attitudes, particularly views on measurement validity and reliance on intuition, significantly impact FIT adoption.
• Reducing structural barriers alone may not ensure sustained use of evidence-based practices like FIT.
• Further research should explore the interplay between attitudes and practice implementation in therapy.