Feedback-Informed Treatment in Clinical Practice: Reaching for Excellence

This practical guide demonstrates how clinicians can use structured yet flexible measures to gather ongoing, real-time client feedback to monitor and strengthen client outcomes and the therapeutic alliance.

Through feedback-informed treatment (FIT), clinicians gather real-time input from clients through structured yet flexible measures that identify what is and is not working in therapy and how to better meet clients’ needs. This book coalesces expert insights from practitioners who have successfully integrated FIT in their own work. Their experiences demonstrate how other clinicians can incorporate FIT into their own practices to consistently monitor clients’ progress and the therapeutic alliance.
 
The book first reviews FIT theory, specific measures (including the Outcome Rating Scale and the Session Rating Scale), and general strategies for implementing FIT in practice and supervision. This information is then translated into more specific applications of FIT with different kinds of clients, including individuals, couples, children and families, LGBTQ clients, and clients suffering from addiction and early onset psychotic disorders. A variety of treatment settings are also represented, such as private practice, clinics, group therapy, the criminal justice system, and pharmacies. The concluding chapter ties together the book’s overarching themes with friendly, practical advice about using FIT to bolster professional development and improve one’s clinical abilities.

David S. Prescott, LICSW, has worked in human services for 32 years. Devoted to building healthy lives and safe communities, he has produced 14 book projects and numerous articles and chapters in the areas of assessing and treating sexual violence and trauma. Mr. Prescott is a current fellow and past president of the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers, the largest professional organization of its kind in the world. He is also the 2014 recipient of that organization's Distinguished Contribution award, one of only a handful of recipients. Previously, he received the Bright Lights award from the National Adolescent Perpetration Network in 2007. He is a certified trainer for the International Center for Clinical Excellence and a member of the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers. He has lectured around the world, including repeatedly in Australia, Japan, Germany, Iceland, Poland, Romania, Canada, and the United Kingdom. He serves and has served on the editorial boards of three scholarly journals, Motivational Interviewing: Training, Research, Implementation, and Practice; the Journal of Sexual Aggression; and Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment. Mr. Prescott is also coeditor of the NEARI News, which is read by thousands of professionals each month.

Cynthia L. Maeschalck, MA, CCC, has more than three decades of experience working as a counselor, clinical supervisor, and manager in mental health and addiction services. She has used feedback-informed treatment (FIT) in her practice and has been training clinicians in the use of FIT since 2005. Currently, she is the community manager and director of professional development for the International Center for Clinical Excellence (ICCE) and has been a senior associate, certified FIT trainer, and faculty member with the ICCE since its inception. As such, she is dedicated to assisting clinicians, supervisors, and agencies around the world to effectively implement FIT into practice. She provides consultation and training on FIT and has developed online courses, produced webinars, and assisted in the development and delivery of intensive training workshops on various aspects of FIT. Ms. Maeschalck also helped to develop the ICCE FIT Core Competencies, is coauthor of three of the six ICCE FIT manuals, and has written several articles about FIT.

Scott D. Miller, PhD, is the founder of the International Center for Clinical Excellence, an international consortium of clinicians, researchers, and educators dedicated to promoting excellence in behavioral health services. Dr. Miller conducts workshops and training in the United States and abroad, helping hundreds of agencies and organizations, both public and private, to achieve superior results. He is the author of many books and articles and one of a handful of "invited faculty" whose work, thinking, and research are featured at the prestigious Evolution of Psychotherapy Conference. He also developed the two scales and interpretive algorithms that make up the Partners for Change Outcome Management system that is helping practitioners, administrators, and policymakers to bring about effective change in service delivery around the globe.