Many exciting things are happening in Norway with CDOI. First I was there to help kick off the Bufetat (Child and Family Services Directorate) pilot implementation of 5 family counseling offices which will begin the nationwide rollout of CDOI (called KOR in Norway) in all 64 agencies across Norway. This massive implementation is in great hands with project leader Marianne Bie, and with the able help of Morten Anker, a Heart and Soul of Change Project (HSCP) Certified Trainer, and Geir Skauli a long time CDOIer. This all began back in 2006 when I did a tour of all the family counseling agencies to introduce CDOI (under the visionary leadership of Berger Hareide and Geir Skauli), but the decision to implement was likely cemented by the Norway Feedback Project. Speaking of the Norway Feedback Project, check out this conversation with principle investigator, Morten Anker.

Get the Norway Feedback Article here: http://heartandsoulofchange.com/resources/articles/

Another very cool thing is what RBUP (Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Services) is doing with CDOI training. Under the leadership of Anne-Grethe Tuseth (the person who brought CDOI to Norway), and with the help of Tor Fjeldstad (another HSCP Certified Trainer), a new training program will soon be launched addressing both academic and clinical training. If you have been following this Blog you know that this is part of the mission of the HSCP, to encourage formal inclusion of CDOI in academic and training programs to promote learning of the ideas and practices early in professional careers. This, in a sense, “institutionalizes” the values of client/consumer privilege and true partnerships via outcome and alliance feedback.

Speaking of academia, I was also privileged to share CDOI ideas as well as their integration with therapist development as presented in my upcoming book On Becoming A Better Therapist to a very esteemed group of faculty/practitioners at the University of Oslo. This was arranged by the famous Norwegian Researcher Helge Rønnestad, who along with David Orlinksy, are the premier researchers investigating therapist development and what it means to be therapist. It was quite a thrill for me to present my integration of these ideas before one of the originators. BTW, Professor Rønnestad called the clinical use of the ORS and SRS “operationalized collaboration,” and noted the likely alliance effects of using the measures the way we do with clients.

And of course, that is why I believe that the Norway Feedback Project and Jeff Reese’s feedback article (to be published in December in Psychotherapy) achieved a positive effect with all clients instead of just those clients at risk, as Lambert’s studies mostly do. I believe the way we clinically use the measures in collaboration with clients makes the difference.

Finally, the Norway Feedback Study also made the Clinician Digest by Garry Cooper in the November edition of the Psychotherapy Networker. Check it out:

http://www.psychotherapynetworker.org/magazine/currentissue/689-clinicians-digest?start=3