Cindy Hansen

Cindy Hansen brings a unique understanding of the clinical tools and resources therapists need most through her own work as a mental-health practitioner coupled with a background in IT. By maintaining close contact with MyOutcomes' global usership and keeping abreast of trends that are reshaping psychotherapy, she is able to lead her R&D team in constantly updating and refining MyOutcomes' measures to improve the quality of the overall client experience.

What every talk therapy professional needs in 2021

Trusted internationally for more than 10 years as a trans-theoretical, transcultural psychotherapy outcome management solution, with this latest release MyOutcomes mobile app for smart phones and tablets has become even more accessible and easy to use. If you haven’t been using MyOutcomes, we hope you will try our latest app. We have made significant improvements and I would really appreciate your feedback. New Features Include:

Customized Client Access- We have added a custom message field to personalize the communications your clients receive. This is game changing for MyOutcomes Mobile app users who currently use the Spanish, French, Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, Dutch, or German as the interface language. Now they can add a personalized note or create a default message to help introduce the measures to their clients or patients.

Password Keeper Upgrade- Now accepts thumbprint, retinal and facial recognition authentication options making typing in passwords a thing of the past.

Practicing Telehealth?
MyOutcomes makes the collection of Outcomes and Session Ratings as simple as asking the questions in conversation. It even has an offline mode that works when there is no cell or Wi-Fi service available.

Seeing clients in person?
As we move back to normal in-person sessions, clients are still encouraged to use their own device instead of sharing and sanitizing each time. MyOutcomes makes it easy with 4 new ways to give clients access:

Send Access: It can be as simple as opening Give Access and clicking the button to send an email with access options to the client.

Single Reminder: This option provides the opportunity to preselect a time and date to send an email with a customizable message to remind them to complete the scales and provide them with login access.

Recurring Reminder: Clicking the Recurring Reminder button will open a page that now includes the custom message field option. Great for weekly group sessions.

Direct Access Link: This is the way to eliminate login issues. Simply share the link in real time through your text or chat function. This link will enable the client to access their survey with one click.

Instant Access
A new two-month free trial option means no more waiting to try MyOutcomes, just sign up and receive login by email immediately.

Ready to try it out? Download it now for free from the Google Play or App Store.

MyOutcomes has also added a number of new features to it’s US, Canadian and International web-based applications.

What’s New?
First, we have added a new side-by-side comparison features to the MyOutcomes Dashboard. This feature was requested to help measure micro-improvements in performance for professionals who are using MyOutcomes to augment their Deliberate Practice.

Second, you will notice that a mass deactivation feature has been added to the Provider Console area. It has been observed that many agencies using MyOutcomes have a lot of cases that have never been closed. This feature allows groups of clients that had their last session in the same time period to all be selected and closed at once.

The third change you may have seen is that the roll over definitions for a number of the predictive and descriptive statistics in MyOutcomes have changed. This is the first step in a series of changes we will be making over the next few months to support a standardization of terms across all Feedback-Informed Treatment and Deliberate Practice platforms that comply with the International Center for Clinical Excellence version of the Partners for Change Outcome Management System (PCOMS).

So, do you agree this is what all talk therapy professionals need in 2021?

Start a two-month free trial through MyOutcomes Mobile for instant access to the world’s gold standard outcome tracking and reporting system.

MyOutcomes is a psychotherapy outcome measurement app with a stop light signaling system that provides session-by-session cues showing client’s progress and indicating if the course of therapy is on or off track. The Outcome Rating Scale and Session Rating Scale (ORS & SRS) track key factors known to influence all psychotherapeutic treatment outcomes. Individualized benchmarks based on personally relevant questions are used to routinely monitor and predict treatment outcomes. Designed for simplicity and speed, MyOutcomes ensures a more successful therapeutic experience for all.

August 25, 2021 by Cindy Hansen ORS/SRS Uncategorized

Improve Patient Outcomes with the Help of Technology

A lot of therapists making the shift to telemedicine have experienced a few hiccups along the way.

Online therapy itself is new and most clinicians have not had any proper training on how to translate their in-person work to a digital platform. Plus, the switch to technology platforms that seem too cumbersome to use, creates even further barriers to providing effective therapy. Who ever dreamed an essential part of a good therapy session would be the client’s ability to log on?

As therapist and client experiment with online therapy, feedback is essential to figuring out what is working, and how to fix what is not. To keep communication open and transparent I recommend setting aside dedicated time each session to discuss the transition, and what has and hasn’t felt supportive.

Without this, it can be difficult to truly gauge whether the patient is satisfied with the mental health services they have received. If they are dissatisfied, they are less likely to share this information with you, which jeopardizes their outcome.

MyOutcomes for Mental Well Being is a company that provides practitioners with software that allows patients to give feedback on a session-by-session basis. Practitioners and patients can view this feedback immediately, allowing for adjustments to improve the therapeutic alliance and increase the likelihood of the client achieving clinically significant, reliable change from the psychotherapeutic treatment or program provided.

Improve patient outcomes with the help of technology

MyOutcomes is committed to helping those in the mental healthcare field improve patient outcomes and simplify outcome reporting, offering standardized therapy outcome measures ideal for both in-person and Telehealth sessions. MyOutcomes recently released Telehealth Solution promises to dramatically simplify the routine monitoring of treatment outcomes, making remote administration as simple and engaging as face-to-face.

Here is what some of your colleagues are saying about these new features:

“That’s exactly the feature I’ve been looking forward to. Other companies use direct access links all the time, I was wondering why MyOutcomes wasn’t providing that option.”

“Like it! Often clients would find the login and password via email as a bit clunky.”

“This is way faster since the virtual platform I use has a chat function, so rather than me copying and pasting the login information or the client having to refer back to their email, I like that they can just click a link that I send them.”

There are four new ways to collect outcome and session ratings from clients. Perfect for Telehealth or in person sessions where clients want to use their own device

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Send Access: It can be as simple as opening Give Access and clicking the button to send an email with access options to the client.
Single Reminder: This option provides the opportunity to preselect a time and date to send an email with a customizable message to remind them to complete the scales and provide them with login access.
Recurring Reminder: Clicking the Recurring Reminder button will open a page that now includes the custom message “ield option. Great for weekly group sessions.
Direct Access Link: You can completely eliminate login issues by sharing the link in real time through your text or chat function. This link will enable the client to access their survey with one click.

To learn more read: MyOutcomes 2021 Telehealth Solution

‘I Didn’t See That Coming!’: How a Feedback System Transforms Therapy

An article by Margarita Tartakovsky, M.S., details the client feedback experiences of Dr. Jason Seidel, PsyD, founder and director of the Colorado Center for Clinical Excellence. Seidel has been using a client feedback system to inform his method of treatment in private practice since 2004. This, according to him, “involves routinely and most importantly formally soliciting feedback from clients about the process of therapy, working relationship (with the therapist) and overall well-being.”

April 21, 2021 by Cindy Hansen Feedback

What is a Feedback-Informed Practitioner?

A Feedback-Informed Practitioner is a dedicated professional who uses standardized scales to routinely measure treatment progress and monitor the therapeutic alliance to inform and improve care.

The scientific body of evidence in support of this process has lead to professional and regulatory bodies adopting this as a “standard” of care (American Psychological Association Presidential Task Force on Evidence-based Practice, 2006; Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards, 2019; Joint Commission, 2018; Tasca et al., 2019). However, mixed results have also been reported and what is emerging is an understanding that it takes more than just measuring and monitoring for Feedback-Informed Treatment to be effective.

Here is what we have learned so far about the differences between an effective Feedback-Informed Practitioner and one that just faithfully collects data.

They are open to feedback and help clients achieve clinically significant change faster.
They know how to create an environment in which clients feel empowered to provide critical feedback in the form of lower alliance scores early on in care.
They spend way more time consulting outcome and alliance data.

Scott Miller and his colleagues, Mark Hubble and Daryl Chow, have written extensively on this topic in the recently released book Better Results: Using Deliberate Practice to Improve Therapeutic Effectiveness

I just listened to a Podcast hosted by Clearly Clinical entitled, Psychotherapy’s Fatal Flaw And How to Fix It, this free podcast is an interview with Scott and Daryl that offers CE credit recognized by the APA, NBCC, NAADAC, CCAPP, and CAMFT. In it, they talk about the latest research on how Feedback-Informed Practitioners improve their individual effectiveness and gives a good preview of what you will learn from the Better Results book.

Plus, if you listen to the free Podcast MyOutcomes and Clearly Clinical are offering a free giveaway. All you have to do is post a comment on Scott’s Blog as well as the Clearly Clinical blog

One lucky listener will receive free enrollment in a 12-CE Credit Feedback-Informed Treatment eLearning course with Scott Miller (a $179.00 value).

A second will win an entire year of unlimited CE course access from Clearly Clinical (a $60.00 value)!

Winners will be announced on Friday, March 6th on the Clearly Clinical blog.

March 3, 2021 by Cindy Hansen Uncategorized

Feedback-Informed Treatment, explained by Scott D. Miller in under five minutes

Did you know that clinicians who routinely obtain feedback on the progress and the status of the relationship with their individual clients have outcomes that are much better, and dropout rates that are much less, that Treatment As Usual (TAU)? In fact, numerous studies actually confirm this. In the research literature that process is known as Feedback-Informed Treatment (FIT). Scott D. Miller, PhD, is one of the pioneering scientists behind the FIT movement. He and I recently worked together to create this brief video to explain what FIT is and how developing a culture of feedback and incorporating the Outcome and Session Rating Scales (ORS & SRS) into your clinical practice can improve your treatment outcomes.

Feedback-Informed Treatment, explained by Scott D. Miller in under five minutes.

Interested in learning Feedback-Informed Treatment Best Practices from Scott D. Miller?

Whether you’re an individual practitioner or part of a larger organization, FIT eLearning is designed to help you develop a culture of feedback and incorporates the Outcome and Session Rating Scales (ORS & SRS) into your clinical practice.

FIT eLearning is based on the most up-to-date research in talk therapy and behavioural health sciences.

MyOutcomes® FIT eLearning program is centered on the four core competencies developed by Dr. Scott D. Miller and colleagues at the International Center for Clinical Excellence (ICCE)

https://www.myoutcomes.com/fit-elearning

February 27, 2021 by Cindy Hansen Client engagement CORS & CSRS Evidence Based Psychotherapy Feedback Informed Therapy Feedback Informed Treatment Feedback-Informed Treatment FIT MyOutcomes training

Free Resource Reveals the True Path to Better Results

Humility!

Turns out it’s more than just a common quality of highly effective therapists, humility is actually a prerequisite!

Studies confirm “professional self-doubt” is not only a strong predictor of both alliance and outcome but actually a prerequisite for acquiring therapeutic expertise. Speaking specifically to the field of psychotherapy in, Humility: The paradoxical foundation for psychotherapy expertise, the authors, Hook, Watkins, Davis, and Owen , define humility as “valuing input from the other (or client) … and [a] willingness to engage in self-scrutiny.”

Does this sound like you?

We all profess humility and I know as an ethics bound professional that you already ask for feedback and have likely already encountered some negative feedback from a client. When you have received negative feedback about treatment progress or experienced a rupture in the therapeutic alliance, ask your self how ofter you were able to:

1: Fix the problem?

2: Learn from the feedback and apply it in future encounters?

Did you confidently answer yes, all the time to both questions, because this is the path your colleagues are taking to go from average to excellent. Only you know how far down this journey you have gone, or are willing to go, but what I do know is that both MyOutcomes® and The International Center for Clinical Excellence (ICCE) are dedicated to providing you with the tools and training you need to see noticeable improvements in treatment results.

Take the Path to Better Results

On January 15, 2021 MyOutcomes is releasing a new series of Better Results with Scott Miller Interviews. The series is full of stories and free practical advice and resources to help you develop a more feedback informed practice. This four-part Netflix style series can be binge watched in under two hours.

If you have participated in the past, then you know that besides free giveaways, MyOutcomes will also be including a great bonus package. The Get FIT Now bonus package will be available for the first 100 Mental Health Professionals who sign up between January 15th and 31st, 2021.

Without giving to much away, I have to tell you that the first 10 participants to sign up online for MyOutcomes or FIT eLearning will be receiving a free paperback copy of Better Results: Using Deliberate Practice to Improve Therapeutic Effectiveness! This step-by-step guide demonstrates how to collect and use client outcome data to create an individualized professional development plan and measure improvements in the quality of the service you provide.

Sign up now

To make sure you don’t miss out, get on the wait list now: https://www.myoutcomes.com/better-results-with-scott-d-miller. This free Feedback-Informed Treatment Webinar Series will only be available for download from Jan 15-31. More free resources and exclusive content will be revealed on the release date!

Share with your colleagues so they don’t miss out on advanced notice.

Get on the waitlist for premier access, Friday, January 15th

January 10, 2021 by Cindy Hansen Advancing Outcome Informed Therapy Video Series Deliberate Practice Feedback Informed Therapy Feedback Informed Treatment Feedback-Informed Treatment FIT ICCE MyOutcomes ORS / SRS ORS/SRS Outcome Rating Scale Outcomes Software Psychotherapy Scott D Miller Session Rating Scale Therapeutic alliance

How Should We Be Training the Next Generation of Therapists?

“We treat people, not disorders.”

This is my favourite quote from the live Q&A section of #EPT2020 Great Conversations, A Bolder Model: How Should We Be Training the Next Generation of Therapists? with William R. Miller, PhD and Scott D. Miller, PhD.

The question was “How can we shift therapist training from a pathology/diagnosis oriented model, towards a helping patients solve problems in life orientation?” There was a pause and then they both smiled. It was so affirming to hear them both echo, “I think the shift has already occurred.”

Watch these five minutes of gold from day two of the Evolution of Psychotherapy 2020 virtual experience.

Are you attending #EPT2020? I will be live in MyOutcomes virtual booth after both of these events.

Dec 12^th, 2:45-3:45PM Pacific Better Results: using Deliberate Practice to Improve Therapeutic Effectiveness

Dec 12^th, 2020 4:15-5:15PM Pacific The initial interview – with Ellyn Bader, PhD – The Couples Institute and Otto F. Kernberg, MD, FAPA – Weill Cornell Medical College

I hope you will stop by Saturday during the break from 3:45 pm -4:15 PM and from 5:15- 5:45 Pacific and share your highlights with us.

If you are not attending, you are still free to join us in the Evo’20 Portal and take part in the live giveaways. Scott Miller will be joining me from 3:45 pm -4:15 to answer questions and announce winners in our Better Results Give away.

Join from your computer, tablet or smartphone with this link: https://www.gotomeet.me/CindyHansen/myoutcomes-evo20-live-portal

Access Code: 259-958-101

You can also dial in using your phone.
United States (Toll Free): 1 877 309 2073
United States: +1 (571) 317-3129

Access Code: 259-958-101

More phone numbers:
Australia (Toll Free): 1 800 193 385
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Brazil: +55 21 3500-3941
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Canada (Toll Free): 1 888 455 1389
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Chile: +56 2 3214 9680
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Czech Republic: +420 2 55 71 95 02
Denmark: +45 32 72 03 82
Finland: +358 923 17 0568
France: +33 170 950 594
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Mexico: +52 55 3687 7278
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Turkey: +90 212 900 4807
United Kingdom (Toll Free): 0 800 169 0432
United Kingdom: +44 20 3713 5028

New to GoToMeeting? Get the app now and be ready when your first meeting starts:https://global.gotomeeting.com/install/259958101

December 11, 2020 by Cindy Hansen MyOutcomes MyOutcomes training Therapy effectiveness Therapy Outcome Measures Web based outcome management system

Five minutes of gold from Don Meichenbaum on the treatment of Grief and Suicidality

Yesterday was the first full day of the Evolution of Psychotherapy virtual experience. We had some great people stop by our virtual booth and join us in the live portal but the highlight of my day was Don Meichenbaum.

I am very found of this warm and wonderful human being. He is a devoted clinical psychologist, recognized as one of the founders of cognitive behavior therapy and has been rightly honoured as one of the most influential psychotherapists of the 20th century.

The topic was so timely, The Treatment of Depressed-Suicidal Patients and Those Experiencing Prolonged and Complicated Grief Disorders. I was so touched as he discussed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, I decided to capture a little bit of it to share with you and I quite serendipitously choose to film these five minutes of gold about the therapeutic alliance and the use of the scales to inform and improve care.

This morning in my inbox was another free teaching from Don, published by Psych Congress with the pull quote, ““…there is a need to use what is called “feedback informed treatment,” whereby the therapist, on a session by session basis, actually assesses the degree to which clients are, in fact, perceived benefiting, and a fit between their particular form of needs and that which the therapist is providing…””

I recommend you watch this brief video that summarizes the evidence-based psychotherapeutic interventions he recommends in the treatment of patients with prolonged and complicated grief and suicidality. https://www.psychcongress.com/multime…

December 10, 2020 by Cindy Hansen Feedback Informed Treatment MyOutcomes ORS / SRS Outcome Rating Scale Session Rating Scale Therapy effectiveness Uncategorized

Get Better Results at Evo’20!

The Evolution of Psychotherapy 2020 promises to be the “Can’t miss Virtual Experience of the Year!”

Not all virtual events are created equal. This 5-day, multi-faceted event has attracted worldwide attention as the most respected gathering of master practitioners in the field. The Evolution of Psychotherapy Virtual Experience will deliver.

We hope you enjoy the MyOutcomes virtual booth experience. MyOutcomes Team will be hosting live events and giveaways in a virtual booth experience that includes:

– Daily draws for paperback copies of Better Results through Deliberate Practice!

– A live portal where visitors are invited to join us by video or phone, Special Guests have promised to stop by!

– A series of unscripted skits from the MyOutcomes Team simulating the live event experience!

– Plus, exclusive deals on MyOutcomes only for Evo’20 participants!

MyOutcomes Evo’20 Portal brings MyOutcomes Team and special guests live on camera to you. MyOutcomes Portal will be open during all breaks and for 30 minutes before, and 30 minutes after all of Scott Miller’s appearances.

Evolution of Psychotherapy 2020

Schedule of Appearances by SCOTT D. MILLER, PhD

Dec 10^th, 2:30-4.00PM Pacific A Bolder Model: How should we be training the next generation of therapists? – with William R Miller – University of New Mexico

Dec 12^th, 2:45-3:45PM Pacific Better Results: using Deliberate Practice to Improve Therapeutic Effectiveness

Dec 12^th, 2020 4:15-5:15PM Pacific The initial interview – with Ellyn Bader, PhD – The Couples Institute and Otto F. Kernberg, MD, FAPA – Weill Cornell Medical College

Dec 13^th, 2020 10:30-11:30AM Pacific Topical Panel – Training Psychotherapists– with Stephen Gilligan, PH.D. and Cloé Madanes, LIC, HDL – Madanes Institute

Watch this just published clip from MyOutcomes Evo’20 Virtual Booth Experience

Can’t attend the event? You can still join us in the Evo’20 Portal!

Join from your computer, tablet or smartphone with this link:
https://www.gotomeet.me/CindyHansen/myoutcomes-evo20-live-portal
Access Code: 259-958-101

Hope to see you there!

December 7, 2020 by Cindy Hansen Evidence Based Psychotherapy Feedback Informed Treatment MyOutcomes Uncategorized

Feedback Informed Treatment in Group Settings

The heart of Feedback-Informed Treatment (FIT) is using information generated though routine monitoring of the therapeutic relationship and progress in treatment to adjust service delivery.

With MyOutcomes® the standard Outcome Rating Scale (ORS) is used to measure progress reported by group members. To monitor the quality of the alliance, the Group Session Rating Scale (GSRS) has been developed and has proven to be a reliable and valid measurement tool, capable of predicting early treatment response (a known determinant of engagement and outcome).

The following cartoon is based on a video excerpt from MyOutcomes FIT eLearning Program. It provides an example of strategies for introducing and administering the GSRS.

When a client’s response to treatment is measured using the GSRS the interpretation of the measures, the meaning and use of the client’s response pattern in general indicates:

• GSRS scores that start and remain low are associated with higher dropout rates and poor or negative treatment outcomes;

• GSRS scores that start and remain high are associated with positive treatment outcomes;

• GSRS scores that start low but improve are associated with lower dropout rates and superior outcomes;

• GSRS scores that start high but decrease are associated with higher dropout rates and poorer treatment outcomes.

The key to using the GSRS effectively in groups is ensuring that the process facilitates open discussion among the members. MyOutcomes not only offers the tools needed to simplify the collection of client outcome and session ratings, we also offer Nationally accredited training in Feedback-Informed Treatment.

To learn more visit: https://www.myoutcomes.com/fit-elearning

November 23, 2020 by Cindy Hansen Feedback Feedback Informed Therapy Feedback Informed Treatment Feedback-Informed Treatment FIT Group Session Rating Scale MyOutcomes training ORS/SRS Outcomes Software PCOMS Session Rating Scale Uncategorized Video Tutorial