Measurement of the impact of psychotherapy sessions.

The Session Evaluation Questionnaire (SEQ), which consists of 22 bipolaradjective scales in semantic differential format, was completed by boththerapists and their adult clients following 113 individual psychotherapysessions. Factor analysis of session ratings (the first half of the SEQ) showedtwo distinct factors, called depth/value and smoothness/ease, in both clientand therapist data. Clients and therapists tended to agree on their session'sposition on these two dimensions. Clients' postsession feelings (measured bythe second half of the SEQ) were more positive following smooth, easysessions; therapists' postsession feelings were more positive following deep,valuable sessions. The SEQ is proposed as a measure of session impact andhence as a useful bridge between psychotherapy process and outcome.Whereas direct comparisons of specific interaction processes with long-termoutcome are seldom feasible, comparisons of process measures with theimpact of single sessions and comparisons of the impact of many sessionswith measures of eventual outcome are feasible and may permit in-ferences about which interventions or techniques contribute to therapeuticbenefit.