Psychotherapy Is Effective but Underutilized, Review Shows

[xchrom]

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/08/120809190641.htm

ScienceDaily (Aug. 9, 2012) — Psychotherapy is effective, helps reduce the overall need for health services and produces long-term health improvements, according to a review of research studies conducted by the American Psychological Association.

Yet, the use of psychotherapy to treat people with mental and behavioral health issues decreased over the last decade while the use of medications to address such problems has increased, according to government and insurance industry data.

"Every day, consumers are bombarded with ads that tout drugs as the answer to their problems. Our goal is to help consumers weigh those messages with research-based information about how psychotherapy can provide them with safe, effective and long-lasting improvements in their mental and physical health," said Melba J. T. Vazquez, PhD, past president of the American Psychological Association who led the psychotherapy effectiveness review project.

As a result of the effectiveness review project, the Association's Council of Representatives last week adopted a resolution on psychotherapy effectiveness. The resolution cites more than 50 peer-reviewed studies on psychotherapy and its effectiveness in treating a spectrum of health issues and with a variety of populations, including children, members of minority groups and the elderly.

[MichiganVote]

1. K&R

[HereSince1628]

2. Raising the question why would a profession need to argue it's techniques are effective?

The obvious answer being that limited effectiveness of psychotherapy is one of the criticisms leveled against it.

When all disorders are lumped together, roughly 2/3's of people with mental illness show improvement over several years even without treatment (which obviously isn't to say that all mental illnesses improve in this way). To be shown effective specific psychotherapies must achieve a statistically valid outcomes for illnesses in some manner that is either better, faster, or more durable than the 'no treatment' recovery rate.

In "The Great Psychotherapy Debate", Bruce Wampold (psychologist U Wisconsin) found, also using meta-analysis, that while psychotherapy enhanced patients' sense of well-being, that outcome significantly depended upon the therapists' personality and the therapists' confidence in the therapy they were delivering--issues independent of type of psychotherapy but not independent of patient perception and receptivity to the therapist's treatment.

Setting that debate aside, the talk-therapists want the APA to endorse the effectiveness of talk-therapy compared to psycho-pharmaceuticals. Their careers, and perhaps the mental wellness of millions, depend on utilization of talk-therapies.

But, regardless of potential effectiveness of psychotherapy, it's no surprise to me that Americans willingly seek psycho-pharmaceuticals for mental illness. Americans perceive pharmaceuticals as scientific solutions to real medical problems. The mentally ill, and most of their care givers, want mental illnesses to be seen as real medical problems.

In American society the mentally ill are highly stigmatized and consequently quickly put at social and economic disadvantage. When mental illness is framed as a consequence of chemical imbalances in the brain, that can be treated with drugs, the mental illness is transformed into a neurophysiology condition. Such a condition is less likely to be seen as the patient's fault. By contrast psychotherapy leaves open to social perception the possibility of the role of personal culpability in mental illness. Talk-therapy, rational emotive therapy, skills training, etc. imply the mental illness is a consequence of a personal shortcoming in appropriate cognition, or emotional/behavioral self-control.

[CanSocDem]

5. Interesting...

"By contrast psychotherapy leaves open to social perception the possibility of the role of personal culpability in mental illness. Talk-therapy, rational emotive therapy, skills training, etc. imply the mental illness is a consequence of a personal shortcoming in appropriate cognition, or emotional/behavioral self-control."

As much as I champion the role of 'personal culpability' in all areas of personal health, I do think the psychotherapy industry is at least as guilty of malpractice as the pharmaceutical industry.

It's all about blaming someone or some thing other than yourself. AA won't even let you quit drinking under your own power. As for behaving badly...well they have a name for that too.

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[Warpy]

3. It's labor intensive and requires training.

Health in general is a low priority in this country (witness out rotten health care non system) and mental health care is its red headed stepchild. The only people who can afford psychotherapy are the richest.

The rest of us get pills and a pat on the head.

[cbayer]

4. This is no surprise, but the point is that no one wants to pay for it.

It's cheaper to medicate.

[HelpmeHelp]

6. It's underused because of the insurance companies.

They consider your premiums to be their profit margin. Psychotherapy takes a long time and the insurance companies are all about the quick, cheap, pill pushing band-aid. If they can put off the expensive treatment until someone loses their insurance from being fired, or from aging off their parent's plan, or from suicide.. THAT'S where the profit is.

My son needs psychiatric help. I need to win the lottery.