Co-Existence or Alliance? Psychological Assessment and Its Effects on Therapeutic Process Using SystemicPsychotherapy as an Example

Abstract

Psychotherapists are still uncertain about what positive or negative effect psychological assessment might have on the process of psychotherapy. The aim of this study was to sum up the effects of psychological assessment on the therapeutic process in the systemic therapy of couples. The question of whether psychological assessment techniques enhances therapeutic progress and helps to achieve therapeutic goals, from the point of view of the clients, was investigated using randomized samples of clients in couples therapy. For this purpose, couples, who had signed up for systemic psychotherapy, were randomly placed in either a group with psychological assessment or one without. In addition to the continual monitoring of the subjective achievement of therapeutic goals, the perceived benefits of the results of the psychological assessment by the clients and therapists were also investigated. The investigation of 42 couples showed that therapeutic success, from the client’s point of view, occurred sooner and was more stable when a psychological assessment was done in advance. In general, psychological assessment was seen in a more positive light by the couples than by the therapists.