Client-therapist match

Therapy works extraordinarily well when the therapist and client act as a team. It can change your life for the better, so I would highly recommend it. The type of therapy that you should choose depends on your values and worldview, and you should determine whether a particular style of therapy fits you and your needs.1 You also will want to make sure that you match up well with your primary therapist (the one who will be directly working with you most often). 

If you are a person with a drug problem, referrals can be very helpful for you because they allow you to receive appropriate services that fit your needs. There is no need to take offense at a referral sometimes therapeutic matches are not ideal, and in other instances new issues arise during therapy that were not considered at the start. Sometimes a referral represents a necessary midcourse correction in treatment. If your therapist is recommending a referral, then it is likely being done to help you help yourself. Good referrals usually make winners of both clients and therapists. 

If you are very uncomfortable with a match that is provided, one strategy is to develop a backup plan to offer the client in the event that the match he or she desires does not work out. Here is an example. Suppose you as a therapist have worked with a client who is not getting better with your help. You believe strongly that the client needs to be matched with a therapist who will demand abstinence in the client as a precondition for therapy. The client insists that he or she wants a therapist who will not demand abstinence immediately upon entry into the program. What do you do ... 

Twenty years ago the dislike of traditional treatment may have presented some real challenges. Today, however, there are many more treatment alternatives to which a client can be referred to if she or he would not match well with a traditional treatment facility. A good referral might be to a psychologist or other therapist who practices cognitive behavioral therapy for individuals. In addition, the advent of the Internet era allows for new and creative treatment alternatives even for people in small communities. 

You also may remember that client motivation dictates what kinds of therapeutic strategies should be used by a therapist in order to successfully match interventions with stages of change. Because it is essential to understand these client factors for successful treatment to occur, assessing these variables is a must. 

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