The Science of PCOMS

PCOMS has been shown to be consumer-friendly, highly feasible for clinicians, and importantly, repeatedly demonstrated to improve the quality and efficiency of services in peer-reviewed, published studies conducted across a range of settings, including public behavioral health.

Overview: Duncan, B. L., & Reese, R. J. (2015). The Partners for Change Outcome Management System (PCOMS): Revisiting the Client’s Frame of Reference.  Psychotherapy, 52(4), 391-401.

RCT: Anker, M., Duncan, B., & Sparks, J. (2009). Using client feedback to improve couple therapy outcomes: A randomized clinical trial in a naturalistic setting.  Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 77, 693-705.

RCT: Reese, R., Norsworthy, L., & Rowlands, S. (2009). Does a continuous feedback model improve psychotherapy outcomes?  Psychotherapy, 46, 418-431.

RCT: Reese, R., Toland, M., Slone, N., & Norsworthy, L. (2010). Effect of client feedback on couple psychotherapy outcomes.  Psychotherapy, 47, 616-630.

RCT: Schuman, D. L., Slone, N. C., Reese, R. J., & Duncan, B. L. (2015). Using client feedback to improve outcomes in group psychotherapy with soldiers referred for substance abuse treatment. Psychotherapy Research, 25, 396–407.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10503307.

RCT: Slone, N. C., Reese, R. J., Mathews-Duvall, S., & Kodet, J. (2015). Evaluating the efficacy of client feedback in group psychotherapy.  Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 19, 122–136.

RCT: She, Z., Duncan, B., Reese, R., Sun, O., Shi, Y., Jiang, G., Wu, C., & Clements, A. (2018). Systematic client feedback in China: A randomized clinical trial in a college counseling center. Journal of Counseling Psychology. Advanced online publication.

RCT: Cooper, M., Duncan, B., Golden, S., & Toth, K. (2019). Systematic client feedback for children with psychological difficulties: Pilot cluster randomised trial. Counselling Psychology Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.1080/09515070.2019.1647142

RCT: Duncan, B., Reese, R., DeSantis, B., Lengerich, A., Comeau, C., & Johnson-Esparza, Y. (2021). Measurement-based care in integrated health care:  A randomized clinical trial. Families, Systems, & Health, 39, 259-268.

Benchmarking: Reese, R.J., Duncan, B., Bohanske, R., Owen, J., & Minami, T. (2014). Benchmarking outcomes in a public behavioral health setting: Feedback as a quality improvement strategy.  Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0036915, 1-12.

Benchmarking: Reese, R.J., Duncan, B., Kodet, J., Brown, H., Meiller, C., Farook, M., Lengerich, A., Vasilj, I., Hong, S., & Bohanske, R. (2017). Patient feedback as a quality improvement strategy in an acute care, inpatient unit: An investigation of outcome and readmission rates.  Psychological Services, http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0036915, 1-7.

Benchmarking: Kodet, J., Reese, R. J., Duncan, B., & Bohankse, R. (2019). Psychotherapy for depressed youth in poverty: Benchmarking outcomes in a public behavioral health setting. Psychotherapy, 56, 254-259.

Cohort: Cooper, M., Stewart, D., Sparks, J., Bunting, L. (2012). School-based counseling using systematic feedback: A cohort study evaluating outcomes and predictors of change.  Psychotherapy Research. DOI:10.1080/10503307.2012.735777.

Critique of recent meta-analysis: Duncan, B., & Sparks, J. (2019). When meta-analysis misleads: A critical case study of a meta-analysis of client feedback. Psychological Services, http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/ser0000398.

Response to authors of meta-analysis: Duncan, B. L., & Sparks, J. A. (2022). When meta-analysis continues to mislead: A reply to Østergård and Hougaard (2020). Psychological Services.Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/ser0000666

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