The Rickter Company

Part of the board’s power lies in the way in which it can structure an interview. The design and sequence of the 10 headings empowers the client by giving choice about what and how much is disclosed.
The design also gives practitioners opportunities to use their professional skills, judgements and knowledge to stay with an issue or to move on to another, as appropriate to the client’s situation and the purpose of the interview.

By using the Rickter Scale® to help the client identify desired positions on the board, the practitioner can support the client in achieving a positive emotional response to sensitive issues.

This structure can result in: -

a focused and meaningful interview;
avoidance of inappropriate probing of past trauma, which may be beyond the scope of the interview;
clients leaving the interview in a more positive or resourceful state than when they arrived.

These results can be very powerful, and therefore raise questions about the quality of supervision and the importance attached to ongoing professional development. However, we also strongly believe that there is no such thing as a dangerous or unethical process or technique, only dangerous or unethical users of techniques. It is up to the practitioner to know the difference and act accordingly.

I know nothing about drugs / debt management / mental health etc

Using the Rickter Scale® with clients does not require any additional skills, knowledge or qualifications to those which a practitioner already uses in their face-to-face work with clients.

The scale is flexible in its application to many different fields of work and by offering a structural framework, it lends itself to a way of working that integrates the practitioners’ own strengths, experience and professional expertise.

For many clients, their drug dependency (or other issue) is a negative or problematical factor that is affecting other areas of their lives. Raising the clients’ awareness in this way allows them to see, hear and feel the connections between the areas of their lives as represented on the board. This process of seeing the ‘big picture’ and making connections also applies to the other headings on the board. The recognition of these connections, which clients experience as they interact with the board, can have very positive outcomes by effecting shifts in perception and awareness.

The boards’ frames of reference/headings cover some very sensitive issues.

Any interview method, including the use of the Rickter Scale®, can indeed bring up sensitive issues from time to time and if they are not addressed, practitioners may well be setting up their clients to fail.

It is all too easy to deal with surface issues, but this does not necessarily help clients to achieve their potential.

If clients are to be helped to overcome their barriers - to learning or employment, for instance - then we have to be prepared to help them address the underlying issues. These may well be perceived (by you?) as sensitive.

Remember that clients should never be put under any pressure to answer questions and they must always have ownership of what happens on the board.

The Rickter Scale® is designed to be non-threatening and can enable the practitioner and client to discuss any issue, whether considered ‘sensitive’ or not, in a non-judgemental, structured and therefore more relaxed way.

One of the crucial issues to many organisations and their clients is the identification and prioritising of issues that will then allow the client to contribute to their own action plans, thereby taking ownership of those issues.

Once this has been done, the use of the Rickter Scale® at a second or subsequent interview can help to monitor the client’s movement in relation to those goals. For example, the Careers Service is required to identify and address the barriers their clients experience in relation to their progress in obtaining employment.

The unique design of the Rickter Scale® offers a dynamic and helpful way of approaching sensitive issues.

How do you introduce the board to a client?

There is no definitive way to introduce the board and its structure to clients. As each client-practitioner relationship is unique, what works for some may not work for others. We encourage Practitioners to personalise your own way of introducing the board to suit the initial response of each client.

Some Practitioners who are using the board for the first time explain this to the Client and ask if they would mind helping them to try it out.

You may also wish to consider ‘closures’ i.e. what you do to help the client to summarise their experience.

Surely you should have some relationship with the client before using the Rickter Scale®?

There are numerous methods of initial engagement that practitioners use with clients to establish rapport and relationships. The Rickter Scale® and its way of working is one method. Its tactile nature, its visual impact and emphasis on empowering clients to consider and make their own judgements about their life issues allow the process to be non-threatening

These user-friendly aspects of the scale assist the practitioner to establish quicker rapport and develop meaningful and supportive relationships with clients much faster than many other methods.
Feedback from practitioners who have used the Rickter Scale® for initial engagement as well as ongoing work, supports these views.

Should I use the Rickter Scale® with every client, or be selective about its use?

You, the practitioner, need to use your professional expertise to make judgements about which helping methods are appropriate to which clients.

The Rickter Scale® is designed to be used with a wide variety of clients in many different settings and situations and with very different needs. It would therefore be difficult to identify which client was ‘right’ or otherwise, for using the scale. Judging a client to be ‘wrong’ for use with the scale could also be interpreted as discriminatory. Experience has shown that the very client, who has been pre-judged to be unresponsive to the scale, has often benefited the most from working with it.

If you feel strongly that there may be ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ clients with whom you could use the scale, ask yourself the following questions:

“What criteria am I using to determine which of my clients may be ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ for using the board?”

“Am I being judgemental in excluding clients from experiencing this way of working?”

“How will I know when the ‘right’ client is sitting in front of me? What will I see, hear and feel?”

How will I remember all the information elicited, when I have used the Rickter Scale® several times a day?

It is absolutely fascinating to see the amount of information a practitioner can remember by using the Rickter Scale® in order to document the responses that each client has made on the headings.
By placing the board in front of you and moving the sliders to repeat the scaling the client made in the session, you provide yourself with a trigger, which will not only help you to recall what the client said about the headings, but also remember the connections that they made between headings.

I find it awkward, asking the client to keep their fingers on the board.

Most clients will find it easy to stay connected with the board. However, do not labour the point if you feel they are becoming anxious about your reminders to keep their fingers in position.
If a client questions why it is necessary to keep contact, perhaps you could say that it will help them to think about what those scalings represent - especially in setting themselves realistic and achievable goals for the future.

What if using the scale raises issues that I cannot resolve?

Raising clients’ awareness of issues can, in itself, start to bring about change and resolution. However, good practice requires that practitioners know their own limitations and the limitations of the organisation in terms of resources.

One of the wider implications of using the Rickter Scale® is that the organisation is already operating within a network of referral agencies, or at least that such inter-agency working is being developed.

It is recommended that organisations/projects have resource packs at their disposal, which can be used to refer a client on for specialist support if needed.

Good quality supervision - as a means of off-loading, sharing good practice and professional and personal development - is imperative within any organisation offering 1:1 work with clients.

Please feel free to contact the Rickter Company with any concerns you may have. We will assist you in any way that we can from both our own years of experience in using the board and also from the feedback we have collected from other Rickter Scale® Practitioners.

How long should it take to complete a Rickter Scale® interview?

There is no set time to complete the Rickter Scale® interview. Please bear in mind that the process is more important than content and the Exploration Questions are designed specifically to move the client through this process. Having time in itself is an important feature for any face-to-face work with clients.

The baseline profile can be completed in 2-3 minutes because the ten initial questions do not require any verbal response. A full interview typically lasts between 30-40 minutes.

Some of the clients I deal with will only be seen once. Is it worth using the scale with them?

As mentioned in question 5, use of the scale for initial engagement can help to establish rapport between client and practitioner. According to feedback from practitioners experienced in the use of the board, clients can definitely benefit from using the board in a single session only.

The first interview – and also those that follow – allows the client to become more aware of their current circumstances, to see the ‘big picture’ of what is going on in their lives and to make connections. If they are ready, they may also begin to set goals and to contribute to their own action plan at the first session.

The significant benefit of having the client repeat the process at a subsequent interview is in offering them the opportunity to reflect on any movement that has taken place, and as a result to quantify ‘distance travelled’.

At what point in the process should I make a note of the scaling?

After the client has completed the Baseline Profile, ask them to tell you the scaling they have given for each heading as you make a note of the numbers.

Following this stage, put down pen and paper and begin to explore the board with the client. For example “If you would like to go back to the board now. Please place your fingers back on the top slider again. I see you have this one on a ‘5’. What is going through you mind here?”

How long after the first Rickter Scale® interview should I wait to do a follow up?

It really depends on the length of your involvement with the client and the intensity of that involvement.

Some organisations only see clients once, so there is no opportunity for a follow-up session. Where practitioners see clients over a period of time, there will be scope for review or follow-up sessions. How soon this takes place after the initial interview is a matter for professional judgement and the needs of both client and the organisation.

For example, if you have a client with you for 2 months, it would make sense to conduct Rickter Scale® interviews at the beginning and the end. This would enable you to measure the movement the client has made and to capture the soft outcomes - both in qualitative and quantitative terms.

Can I use the board with existing clients, who might have been with us for a long time?

Absolutely. It could highlight how effective your intervention has been. It may identify areas that require more intensive intervention. It would also allow the client to benefit from a positive experience and to become more aware of their own progress.

Is the order in which the headings/questions on the board appear of any significance?

Generally speaking, yes, the specific order of the headings has come about as the result of feedback from practitioners in relation to their preferred way of working.
For example, placing the question relating to ‘happiness’ at the end of the scale, allows clients to consider other issues that they might feel are relevant to their lives that have not been covered by the other headings on the board.

Where would be the best place to conduct a Rickter Scale® interview?

As the board is fully portable, it can be used in a variety of settings, from a formal office situation, on a home visit or in a car. The crucial factor when considering the setting is to create the best environment that will allow a productive, confidential and uninterrupted interview to take place.
In order to achieve this the clients’ needs, preferences and associations with that place all need to be taken into consideration.

What if the client discloses a serious incidence, e.g. a child-protection issue that will need further action or a suspension of confidentiality?

A disclosure of this nature can come at any time during face to face work with clients, whether you use the Rickter Scale® or not.

Act in accordance with whatever systems, procedures and policies you have currently in place within your organisation. Following good practice guidelines, you may feel it necessary to explain the purpose and process of the interview, the boundaries of the work and the organisations’ confidentiality policy before the interview begins.

Only you can determine how much detail is necessary at this point, both for your comfort and that of your client.

Can I show others how to use the Rickter Scale®?

It is a condition of purchase that all practitioners who use the Rickter Scale® must attend a full day’s training session delivered by the Rickter Company and receive a Certificate of Competence. It is by this means that practitioners are licensed to use the Scale within their own organisation.

This ensures that those practitioners have a full knowledge of the use of the Scale and an understanding of the underpinning theory. This also allows for effective quality control in the Rickter Scale® use.

Is there ever a time or situation when you would not use the Rickter Scale®?

Your professional judgement is of paramount importance in deciding when to use the Scale, with whom and how frequently. Introduce the Scale in a positive way and you are likely to get positive results.
There may be situations when the use of the scale is not appropriate – when a client is in a distressed state, under the influence of drugs or alcohol, or if there are too many distractions to allow for adequate concentration or privacy. See also question 16.

Some of my clients may have difficulty in seeing or moving the sliders.

There is a Braille version of the board for those with visual impairment and there is also an A3 size board with large sliders for use with those who do not have fine motor skills or who may have difficulty using the small sliders. Please let us know if your clients have any other requirements that require adaptations to the Rickter Scale®.

What is the youngest age group with whom I should be using the Rickter Scale®?

There is no “age limit” with the Rickter Scale® and it is currently being used extremely successfully with children as young as six years old, and with primary school age children generally.

The key is to introduce the board gradually, through appropriate preparation and explanation. For example have children play with the Rickter Scale® and become familiar with it before using it formally. Ask if they can guess how you might be going to use it together. You may wish to consider using the smiley face version of the board (see our catalogue for more details).

In addition to introducing the board itself, you may need to introduce the idea of scaling. Ask the child how happy they are today. Use smiley faces on a sheet of paper to give them choices, then gradually introduce for example a simple ‘scale’ of 1,2,3 alongside the faces. Also consider doing a “trial run” of using the board before the actual initial assessment to ensure the child understands.

Ensure that using the board remains a fun activity. If a child thinks it is a test he or she will immediately treat it as a test, becoming self-conscious and worried. As with any activity, the effectiveness of the Rickter Scale® relies solely on how you approach the situation, your level of motivation and expectation and your belief that you can make a difference.

Also make sure you are using a frame of reference that is appropriate to the child’s age and needs. If in doubt, or if you do have any questions about the use of the Rickter Scale® with children please ask.