Doing nothing...?

The research at the heart of this presentation is comprised of two complementary studies exploring the experience of clients and therapists when therapy results in no improvement. Non-improvement is common: research suggests that 30-40% of clients improve, 10% report harm or deteriorate and this leaves a significant proportion of clients for whom there is no evidence of change (Hansen, Lambert, & Forman, 2002; Lorentzen, Høglend, Martinsen, & Ringdal, 2011). In the presentation, there will be an outline of the first study, in which the participants were clients recruited from NHS services, who had completed psychological therapy and who reported a subjective sense of no improvement. In the workshop, there will be an outline of the findings form the second study, in which psychological therapists were interviewed about their experience of working with clients who did not improve. Both studies used semi-structured interviews and Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis to explore participant accounts. Then, the clinical implications will be considered and these will form the basis for a discussion between the presenters and audience about this common but undesirable experience.