Key Ideas

Unlike physical health, with mental health, one size does not fit all.

We know from a large body of research (see a study of studies here) that a good therapeutic alliance, that is, a good working relationship between the client and therapist can have a significant impact on the success of treatment.

But finding someone with the right fit can be really hard. There is little choice when selecting a therapist and little comparison information available. For example, close to 80% of people tell us they are not at all confident in identifying the ‘right’ psychologist and more than 60% tell us they personally know of friends or family who have had difficulty finding the right psychologist for them.

This contributes to subpar treatment outcomes, clients having to cycle through several therapists, or dropping out of treatment all together (see a study of studies here).

Conversely, a strong therapeutic alliance can help the therapist as much as the client.

A 2020 study by the Australian Psychological Society of close to 300 psychologists, found close to 80% of participants could be classed as suffering from “high burnout” and close to 60% suffering from “high disengagement”. The study concludes there is a growing need for burnout reduction interventions.

By controlling for a strong therapeutic alliance, we want to make treatment easier for both the client and therapist. This in turn can reduce burnout and increase access and availability to better suited therapy.

What to match?

Earlier research tended to examine matches on general values and attitudes that may be quite separate to the processes occurring in treatment between a client and their therapist. Researchers are now examining the impacts of specific traits as a more direct predictor of treatment outcomes.

We've adopted the best of both worlds. Our questionnaire is based on psychological scales focused on specific attitudes and perceptions as well as general values.

We match on:

• personality types

• coping style - how parties prefer to deal with a problem

• therapeutic orientation - their goals for treatment, such as the importance of focusing on certain issues or problems and

• shared life experiences, such as values and past times.

We also measure overall readiness for therapy and factor in demographic preferences to provide a comprehensive match.

Our Research project

We believe in the free distribution of knowledge. A big part of our objective is research and development. Currently, the predictors of a good therapeutic alliance are a matter of ongoing research. We want to increase the evidence base for different match characteristics and share our findings without paywalls.

more details?

See our FAQs and methodology.