What Are Common Factors?

Common factors are important factors or ingredients that make therapy and the therapist effective based on research.

These factors can be incorporated into any therapeutic treatment approach/model/framework.

Why Goal Consensus is Important

Therapy is a relationship requiring active engagement from both parties. Collaboration is key.

Collaboration can include:

• Active participation

• Setting goals

• Goal consensus/agreement

• Completing homework/tasks outside of session

• Integrating learning outside of session

Goal consensus/agreement is particularly important.

Goal consensus refers to mutual agreement between therapist and client on what is being worked on in therapy.

If there is not a goal consensus/agreement, treatment can become challenging because the therapist and the client are working on two separate goals and are misaligned.

Of course, there are some people who attend long term, depth oriented therapy for personal development. In these cases, goals are more interpersonal in nature and fluid as this is less focused on symptom reduction and more on exploration of one’s inner world.

What Can Happen If Goal Consensus Is Not Clarified And Understood

• Feeling lost/confused/uncertain/aimless in therapy

• Lack of hope

• Increased despair things will not change and symptoms will not improve

• Poorer therapeutic alliance

• Decreased client motivation

• Decreased treatment outcomes

• Unrealistic therapeutic expectations

• And more

Questions To Reflect On

• How do I inquire what a client’s goals are?

• Are the client and I on the same page and have mutual understanding about their goals?

• Are the client and I on the same page and have mutual understanding about how to achieve/work toward their goals?

• How do I collaborate with my client in therapy?

• How do I discuss collaboration with my client in therapy?

• How do I set the expectation that collaboration is essential toward therapeutic effectiveness?

• How do I work with clients and reply to clients who misunderstand that therapy is not a 1 way relationship, but 2 way relationship?

• How do I provide psychoeducation on goal consensus?

• What’s my 1-2 sentence elevator pitch on goal consensus?

Statements And Questions You Can Try Out

• What are your goals for therapy?

• What are your best hopes from attending therapy?

• What do you hope to achieve in therapy?

• How do you want to feel after meeting your goals?

• On the other side of therapy, what would healing look like?

• How open are you to working together toward achieving your goals?

• For therapy to work and be effective, I really need your help and buy in. Are you open to this?

• So to clarify, in your own words, you want to (insert client’s words around their goals)…Is this right? If not, what would you edit or clarify?

• Do you have any questions for me after explaining how we will work toward your goals?

• Has everything I’ve said made sense to you? Or should I clarify anything?