While we see great value in the use of varieties of process and outcome measures these do not tell you specifically what your clients are wishing to see change in so they know your work together is helping. Our Goals Builder allows you to do just that.
Track goals using the client's own words. Score the goal between 0 (worst) and 10 (best). Build a 'goals' measure for your clients, one client at a time, to help keep you focused on what's really important to them. Switch goals on and off, when either your client is happy that they have achieved them or they don't wish to work on them for now.
Check in frequently with your clients to see how well they are progressing towards attaining their goals.
Read more about goals tracking
Because sometimes the language around 'goals and goal setting may not feel right for clients, with Pragmatic Tracker you can identify problems instead, scoring them in the opposite way to goals above, between 10 (worst) and 0 (best). In exactly the same manner you and your client can track the reduction in their specific problems, using their own words.
(NOTE: We recommend the excellent book on this subject by Mick Cooper and Duncan Law - details below)
"Recent evidence suggests that working with goals in counselling and psychotherapy can support positive therapeutic change. Goals can empower clients and give them hope: helping them feel that they have the capacity to act towards achieving their desired futures. Goals can help focus, and direct, clients’ and therapists’ attention, building a better therapeutic alliance. Through negotiating and setting goals, clients can develop a deeper insight into what it is they really want in life: a crucial first step towards being able to get there.
Policy developments in both child and adult mental health services support the use of goals in therapy. Goal-setting and goal-tracking can help to ensure that therapy is personalised to the individual client: so that they are working towards objectives that are of genuine importance to them."
From the introduction to 'Working with goals in psychotherapy and counselling', edited by Mick Cooper and Duncan Law
page last updated: 03/08/2020
