How to pretest non-psychometric tools: A field research example of exploring the acceptability, face validity and utility of Emotioncubes: A novel tool to support therapeutic working with emotions

Working with emotion is central to therapeutic approaches. However, there are few appropriately tested creative tools designed for this purpose. There is also no evidence-based testing guidance for counseling tools available outside of the psychometric field. Therefore, this study combined cognitive pretesting with in-depth qualitative interviews to explore the acceptability, face validity and utility of Emotioncubes -12, three-dimensional wooden cubes that support the therapeutic exploration of emotion. This testing approach revealed performance insights that would not be established via alternative methods such as premature case studies or randomized trial. The findings also offer guidance for others seeking to test such tools.