Giving Feedback to Clients

In giving feedback to a client, the goal is to give the client information about their behaviors or the impact their behaviors may have on others. Feedback is information specifically about the client. Some examples of feedback may sound like, “You seem a little distracted today, I notice you are having trouble staying present in our session.”, or “You did a great job articulating what you were feeling during that moment.”. Feedback can help the client become more self-aware. This self-awareness can, ideally, lead to a positive change in behavior.

Research shows that clients prefer to hear positive feedback as opposed to negative feedback. Don’t we all? It is much easier to accept the positive things we are doing. In fact, research also shows that clients tend to believe that the positive feedback they receive is more accurate than the negative feedback they receive. Makes sense. We can have a hard time accepting our shortcomings. The client may think, “Well that’s my counselor’s opinion, it is not necessarily true.”. The client may feel misunderstood as a result. If negative feedback is necessary, which sometimes it is, it is helpful to note positive feedback, then the negative feedback, and once again attach positive feedback at the end. Mary Poppins was onto something with her spoonfuls of sugar.  

 Feedback should not be given to clients until a therapeutic relationship has been established between client and counselor. It is also important to recognize that feedback is simply a counselor’s observation, it is not necessarily a fact. Feedback is not supposed to be an overt evaluation of the client, that perspective will most likely come off as unempathetic and attacking. Rather, it is helpful to be descriptive of the client’s behaviors you are observing. Feedback should be given as closely to the observance as possible. In many cases, it would not be as helpful to offer feedback on something that occurred in a previous session as opposed to the present session. Most importantly, feedback should only be given in relation to things that the client can change.

If you would like to speak to a professional counselor or psychologist about this and are in the Chicago area, please feel free to contact Olive Branch Counseling Associates, Inc. at 708-633-8000. We are located at 6819 West 167^th Street in Tinley Park, Illinois 60477.

Hillary R.,

Masters Level Intern, 2023

Sources –

Hill, C. E. (2020). Skills for Exploring Thoughts and Narratives. In Helping skills: Facilitating exploration, insight, and action (pp. 352-355). essay, American Psychological Association.