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Appendix E
Definitions of the Treatment Scales:
BRIEF RELATIONAL THERAPY
1. Tracks client's experience in a moment-to-moment fashion. The act of following
client's perceptions, thoughts, and feelings as they emerge in the moment. Therapist does
not make reference to client processing that is not currently being experienced.
2. Intervenes with skillful tentativeness. Refers to quality of therapist attitude of
exploration and subjectivity; therapist uses words like "perhaps," "it seems," "possibly."
3. Asks exploratory questions which probe for the feeling/experience underlying the
client's utterance including feelings about the feeling/experience or utterance itself -
feeling ashamed about feeling this way, etc. Therapist makes inquiries into what the
client is or has experienced. "What does that feel like?," "What was it like for you when
he went away?," "What was that like for you?," "What's your feeling about feeling so
anxious?"
4. Directs or redirects the focus to the "here and now" either with regard to the
client's experience or with regard to the relationship between the client and
therapist. "What's happening for you right now?," "What would satisfy you with me
right now?," "What's your fear of exploring those feelings with me right now?"
5. Metacommunicates by conveying own feelings to help client become aware of
his/her role in the interaction or to probe for client's internal experience (general
metacommunication item). Includes acknowledging own role in the interaction. "I
think I've: been acting hostile towards you," "I feel shut out right now," "I'm feeling put
down right now," "I feel like I'm playing a game of chess. Does that make any sense to
you?"
6. Respects client as arbiter of experience. Therapist maintains a humble, subjective,
exploratory stance. Therapist is not the expert on the client's feelings; s/he is facilitating
their unfolding.
7. Deepens client's experience through evocative reflection. Therapist takes the
client's either implicitly or explicitly expressed feelings and empathizes with these
feelings to amplify/elaborate the client's felt experience of them. "So, you're feeling a bit
shut down and angry," or "So you're feeling like no one really understands how hard it is
for you."
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