How often did these studies check in on progress?

Most of them tracked progress frequently, often at every session. In the 2021 review, how often feedback was used shaped the results, which points to regular, consistent check-ins mattering more than occasional ones.

Does revisiting goals help everyone the same amount?

No. The review found the clearest benefit for people whose progress had drifted off track. For those cases, regular feedback helped more, at d = 0.17. A regular check is a way to catch that drift early.

Can checking my progress make therapy shorter?

The evidence does not support that. The 2021 meta-analysis found that progress feedback did not shorten how long treatment lasted. Its value was in modestly better outcomes and fewer dropouts, not in speed.

Maintenance

How often should I revisit my therapy goals?

Short answer

There is no magic number. But checking your progress on a steady rhythm helps. A 2021 review of 58 studies found that regular progress feedback modestly improved therapy outcomes and cut dropout by about a fifth. The benefit was largest for people whose progress had drifted off track.

The research

de Jong, K., Conijn, J. M., Gallagher, R. A. V., Reshetnikova, A. S., Heij, M., & Lutz, M. C. (2021). Using progress feedback to improve outcomes and reduce drop-out, treatment duration, and deterioration: A multilevel meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology Review, volume 85, article 102002.

Sample 58 studies, 110 effect sizes, 21,699 people

Published 2021

Journal Clinical Psychology Review

Kim de Jong and her colleagues gathered 58 studies, drawn from 49 randomized trials and 9 real-world clinics, covering 21,699 people in therapy. They asked a plain question. Does it help when a therapist regularly tracks how a client is doing and feeds that progress back into the work? The answer was a small but steady yes. On symptom improvement, progress feedback beat usual care by a modest margin, an effect the researchers measured at d = 0.15. It also lowered the number of people who dropped out of therapy, with the odds of dropping out about a fifth lower when feedback was used. The benefit was clearest for one group in particular. When someone's progress had quietly drifted off track, regular feedback helped more, at d = 0.17. Two things the review did not find are worth naming. Regular feedback did not shorten how long treatment lasted, and it did not lower the share of people who got worse. The authors are careful to call feedback a small add-on, a light tool laid over the real work of therapy, not a treatment on its own.

Read the paper

What does this mean for you?

Revisiting your therapy goals is a plain version of what this research measured. When you and your care team pause to look at where you are, compared to where you wanted to be, you are doing progress feedback. The review suggests this is worth doing on a regular rhythm, not just once at the start and once at the end.

How often is often enough? The studies do not hand you a magic number, but most of them checked in frequently, often at every session. Frequency mattered. The gains showed up when tracking was regular and consistent, not occasional. So a steady habit of revisiting your goals beats a single big review months apart.

Be honest about the size of the effect. These were small benefits, and feedback did not help everyone equally. It mattered most for people whose progress had quietly drifted off track, which is exactly the situation a regular check can catch early. Think of revisiting your goals as a way to notice drift while it is still small, not as the thing that does the healing. It works alongside your care, never in place of it.

The takeaway

Make it a rhythm, not a one-off. Regular check-ins on your goals worked better than a single review far apart.
Do not skip the check when things feel off. The benefit was largest for people whose progress had drifted.
Bring it to your care team. Feedback works as a shared tool, not a solo test.

Terms in this page

Between-session support Mental readiness Intention setting

This is the work Asendar™ was built for: a steady place to revisit where you are, compared to where you want to be, so a quiet drift gets noticed early instead of late. If you want a simple read on where you are starting from today, take your Mental Readiness Score.

Take your Mental Readiness Score

Explore more in the Maintenance pillar