Opportunity Cost

One of the few things I remember from my college economics class many years ago is the concept of opportunity cost. Dictionary.com defines opportunity cost in this way: "The cost of an alternative that must be forgone in order to pursue a certain action. Put another way, the benefits you could have received by taking an alternative action."

For example, if on your vacation you decide to go to the beach, your opportunity cost is the alternative trip that might have been taken instead (a skiing vacation, etc.).

This concept of opportunity cost is an especially important consideration in the therapy hour. What is the most important issue to deal with today? What crisis is my client having trouble revealing to me? What underlying issues are lurking and waiting to be discovered?

These types of questions were just a few of the reasons why Dr. Scott Lownsdale, a therapist himself, developed QPASS. A major benefit of QPASS is that it very quickly collects information on a large number and variety of behaviors and emotions. Depression? QPASS collects 26 symptoms. Anger? QPASS reveals 28 behaviors. Anxiety? 29 symptoms collected. What about other behaviors not so easily categorized? QPASS asks about another 22 "crisis behaviors" that could suddenly reprioritize your entire session. Items such as addictive behaviors and violence, to name just a couple show up in this section.

So imagine this: your client takes the QPASS assessment in your waiting room in about ten minutes, then enters your office and in the first three minutes of your session, you handscore their QPASS test. For the last three sessions you have been talking about the depression she has been experiencing in a less than satisfactory marriage. Now you see on her QPASS that your client has been having strong thoughts of harming herself, something she has not verbalized to you before.

This exact situation was reported to the QPASS Team not long ago by one of the many therapists who began using QPASS regularly in the last couple of years. Of course, this revelation changed the direction of that therapy hour and probably a number of them to follow. It also highlighted the fact that many clients will reveal infomration on paper that they can't seem to say out loud.

Not only can QPASS help you in prioritizing what topics you address in therapy, but can also just plain allow you more time to DO therapy. Without having to verbally go through a list of major concerns and check your client's status on each, you will have more time to really wade into the important issues of the day.

For more information on QPASS and all that it measures, check it out at QPASSLive.com. And if you are already using QPASS, please leave us your comments here. Thanks for spending some of your time here with us today.