Description

The Session Evaluation Questionnaire (SEQ-27) is a psychometric instrument designed to assess the immediate impact and subjective experience of a psychotherapy session from the perspective of both the client and the therapist. The questionnaire evaluates emotional reactions following a therapy session and provides a structured assessment of how the session was experienced in terms of intensity, comfort, emotional activation, and perception of the therapeutic relationship.

The SEQ-27 was developed by W. B. Stiles and was adapted into Greek by G. Efstathiou, A. Mavroidi, A. Papadimitriou, and E. Pavlatou. The Greek adaptation followed a back-translation procedure to ensure conceptual and linguistic equivalence between the original English version and the Greek version.

The questionnaire is completed immediately after each psychotherapy session and is available in two versions, one completed by the therapist and one completed by the client. It consists of 27 bipolar rating scales with seven response levels, allowing assessment of different dimensions of the therapy experience.

The structure of the SEQ-27 is based on Stiles’ framework for measuring the impact of psychotherapy sessions and incorporates concepts from Russell’s (1979) theory of emotional experience, which describes emotional states according to dimensions of evaluation, potency, and activation.

The questionnaire allows psychotherapy sessions to be characterized according to four experiential patterns: shallow and difficult sessions, shallow and relaxed sessions, deep and intense sessions, and deep and relaxed sessions.

Data Analysis and Use

Data obtained through the SEQ-27 can be analyzed to evaluate the immediate psychological impact of psychotherapy sessions and to examine how clients and therapists perceive the therapeutic process.

The questionnaire provides information across several dimensions of the therapy experience, including the perceived depth and importance of the session, the level of comfort or difficulty experienced, the emotional state following the session, and the client’s evaluation of the therapist.

Statistical analysis may include calculation of means, standard deviations, and score distributions for each dimension. The repeated administration of the SEQ-27 after multiple therapy sessions allows researchers to examine changes in session experience over time and investigate patterns associated with therapeutic progress.

The instrument may be used in psychotherapy research to study therapist–client interactions, evaluate session effectiveness, examine therapeutic processes, and provide feedback in clinical supervision and therapist training.

The Greek version of the SEQ-27 was evaluated in a sample of 39 psychotherapy clients, including 29 women and 10 men, aged between 25 and 50 years with a mean age of 31.3 years (SD = 12.24).

Objective

The primary objective of the Session Evaluation Questionnaire (SEQ-27) is to assess the impact and quality of individual psychotherapy sessions as experienced by clients and therapists.

The instrument aims to capture the emotional and experiential consequences of a therapy session, providing information regarding how meaningful, intense, comfortable, or emotionally activating the session was.

A further objective is to examine the therapeutic relationship through the client’s perception of the therapist, including characteristics such as trust, competence, and warmth.

By evaluating these dimensions, the SEQ-27 contributes to understanding psychotherapy processes and factors associated with effective therapeutic interactions.

Structure and Content

The SEQ-27 consists of three main sections.

The first section, “The session was…”, evaluates characteristics of the therapy session itself and focuses primarily on the perceived depth, importance, and quality of the therapeutic experience.

The second section, “Right now, I feel…”, assesses the individual’s emotional state immediately following the session and examines dimensions related to positive mood and emotional activation.

The third section, “I feel that my therapist today was…”, evaluates the client’s perception of the therapist, including aspects related to trustworthiness, competence, and warmth.

The questionnaire measures four primary experiential dimensions. Depth-Value reflects the perceived significance, meaningfulness, and intensity of the session. Relaxation-Comfort assesses whether the session was experienced as comfortable and easy or difficult and challenging. Positive Mood-Arousal evaluates emotional responses after the session, including satisfaction, positive feelings, and emotional activation. Therapist Evaluation examines the client’s perception of the therapist’s personal and professional qualities.

Scoring

The SEQ-27 uses 27 bipolar rating scales with seven response levels. Each item represents a pair of opposite descriptors, allowing participants to indicate their position between two contrasting experiences.

Scores are calculated as the mean of the items corresponding to each factor. Separate scores are obtained for the main dimensions of Depth-Value, Relaxation-Comfort, Positive Mood, Arousal, and Therapist Evaluation.

Higher scores indicate stronger endorsement of the characteristics represented by each dimension. For example, higher Depth-Value scores indicate a session experienced as more meaningful and significant, while higher Positive Mood scores indicate stronger positive emotional reactions following therapy.

The interpretation of scores focuses on describing the subjective experience of psychotherapy sessions rather than establishing diagnostic categories.

Statistical Analysis

Statistical evaluation of the SEQ-27 may include descriptive statistics, reliability analysis, factor analysis, and examination of relationships between session experiences and therapeutic outcomes.

The factor structure of the questionnaire allows researchers to examine the different dimensions of psychotherapy impact separately. Comparative analyses may be conducted to investigate differences between clients, therapists, therapy approaches, or stages of treatment.

Repeated measurement designs may also be used to evaluate changes in session experience across the course of psychotherapy and identify patterns associated with therapeutic improvement.

Validity

The validity of the SEQ-27 is supported by its theoretical foundation in Stiles’ (1980) framework for measuring psychotherapy session impact and by empirical research examining the structure and application of the instrument.

The construct validity of the questionnaire is supported by its relationship with established theories of emotional experience and psychotherapy processes.

The Greek adaptation maintained conceptual equivalence through a systematic translation procedure involving translation, back-translation, and bilingual review to ensure semantic accuracy.

Reliability

The SEQ-27 demonstrates strong reliability characteristics. According to the available information, the instrument shows high internal consistency, with Cronbach’s alpha coefficient reported as α = 0.87 by Stiles and Snow (1984).

The questionnaire has also demonstrated stability across multiple psychotherapy sessions, supporting its reliability for repeated assessment of session experiences over time.

These psychometric properties support the use of the SEQ-27 in psychotherapy research, clinical evaluation, and supervision contexts.

References

Stiles, W. B. (1980). Measurement of the impact of psychotherapy sessions. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 48, 176–185.

Stiles, W. B., & Snow, J. S. (1984). Counseling session impact as viewed by novice counselors and their clients. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 31, 3–12.