Session Reactions Scale – 3 – Brief (SRS-3-B)

The Session Reactions Scale – 3 – Brief Version (SRS-3-B) is a 15-item self-report post-session measure for collecting systematic feedback on clients’ session reactions in the context of feedback-informed treatment (Řiháček et al., 2023).  It is suitable for clients engaged in psychological therapy who are 18 years and older, and is designed to be administered periodically to track the therapeutic relationship. 

A notable strength of the SRS-3-B lies in the fact that it was derived from qualitative research on clients’ reactions to significant events in psychotherapy sessions (Řiháček et al., 2023). Therefore, it contains categories that clients themselves are likely to consider important and, thus, can easily rate from their own perspective.

To conduct effective psychotherapy, understanding a clients’ perspectives is critical (Elliott & James, 1989) and clients’ experiences should be considered and addressed (Constantino et al., 2020; Wu & Levitt, 2020). However, some research suggests clients may not always be willing to honestly share their reactions to their therapeutic experience (Farber, 2020). Therefore, a concise method to encourage client feedback is crucial. The SRS-3-B is a brief assessment tool that can provide the clients’ perspective across two subscales:  

  1. Helpful Reactions – measuring reactions such as the client gaining a new perspective, feeling more empowered, hopeful or positive, and having clear goals to work on. 
  2. Hindering Reactions – measuring reactions such as the client feeling stuck, feeling uncomfortable about what the therapist is suggesting, and feeling there is a lack of direction or guidance from the therapist.

 

Developer

Řiháček, T., Elliott, R., Owen, J., Ladmanová, M., Coleman, J. J., & Bugatti, M. (2023). Session Reactions Scale-3: Initial psychometric evidence. Psychotherapy Research: Journal of the Society for Psychotherapy Research, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/10503307.2023.2241983 

References

Constantino, M. J., Coyne, A. E., & Muir, H. J. (2020). Evidence-based therapist responsivity to disruptive clinical process. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, 27 (4), 405–416. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cbpra.2020.01.003

Elliott, R., & James, E. (1989). Varieties of client experience in psychotherapy: An analysis of the literature. Clinical Psychology Review, 9 (4), 443–467. https://doi.org/10.1016/0272-7358(89)90003-2

Elliott, R., & Wexler, M. M. (1994). Measuring the impact of sessions in process-experiential therapy of depression: The session impacts scale. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 41 (2), 166–174. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0167.41.2.166

Farber, B. A. (2020). Disclosure, concealment, and dishonesty in psychotherapy: A clinically focused review. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 76 (2), 251–257. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.22891

Mander, J., Schlarb, A., Teufel, M., Keller, F., Hautzinger, M.,Zipfel, S., Wittorf, A., & Sammet, I. (2015). The Individual Therapy Process Questionnaire: Development and validation of a revised measure to evaluate general change mechanisms in psychotherapy. Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy, 22 (4), 328–345. https://doi.org/10.1002/cpp.1892

Reeker, J., Elliott, R., & Ensing, D. (1996).Measuring session effects in process-experiential and cognitive-behavioral therapies of PTSD: The Revised Session Reaction Scale. Paper Presented at Meetingo f the Society for Psychotherapy Research, Amelia Island, Florida. http://www.eft-scotland.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Reeker-Elliott-Ensing-1996.doc

Wu, M. B., & Levitt, H. M. (2020). A qualitative meta-analytic review of the therapist responsiveness literature: Guidelines for practice and training. Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy, 50(3),  161-175. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10879-020-09450-y