Search

Of 1,969 patients seen by a clinical psychologist during 40 years of private practice, at the time the outcome data were analysed 1,374 were either in treatment or had completed treatment and all of these cases had produced outcome data. The results show that four (4) patients (0.29%) became Much Worse, 10 (0.73%) became Worse, 412 (29.96%) showed No Change, 467 (33.96%) became Better, and 482 (35.06%) were Much Better. The mean treatment effect size (ES) was 1.87. Outcome varied significantly across diagnostic categories. Outcome also varied by age groups. Outcome for males and females did not differ, but both kinds of individual patients did better than when couples were the focus of treatment. The dropout rate was 17%. The mean number of sessions per case was 17.43, the median was 10, and the range was 1 to 344. There was a significant positive correlation between number of treatment sessions and outcome. The therapist's effectiveness did not improve across the years. Managed care had a significant negative impact on treatment outcomes.

Objective: Despite the demonstrated efficacy of psychosocial approaches to schizophrenia treatment that include a psychoeducational component, such as illness management, the implementation of these approaches into routine mental health treatment has been slow. The authors sought to examine the efficacy of a comprehensive, modularized, psychoeducational program called Team Solutions, which was designed to educate patients with major mental illnesses about their illness and how to manage it. Team Solutions was chosen for study because it is available over the Internet and other venues at no cost and is used by mental health agencies across the United States and Canada., Methods: Seventy-one persons with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder from three day treatment settings participated in this randomized, single-blind study. Participants were randomly assigned to attend one of two interventions: the Team Solutions intervention, which consisted of participating in a 24-week psychoeducational group focused on illness management, or treatment as usual., Results: For participants who attended the experimental group, significant improvement was observed in knowledge about schizophrenia. In addition, client satisfaction was high. However, no changes were observed in symptoms or functioning., Conclusions: Results indicated that participation in the Team Solutions psychoeducational group improved participants' knowledge. However, participation in the program did not demonstrate superiority over treatment as usual with respect to secondary and tertiary outcomes, such as symptom severity, treatment adherence, and global functioning.

Objective: The authors sought predictors of treatment utilization among women with eating disorders., Method: Women diagnosed with either anorexia or bulimia nervosa (N=246) completed prospective evaluations of eating disorder status, comorbid disorders, global assessment of functioning, and treatment utilization., Results: Women with anorexia nervosa received significantly more inpatient treatment than did women with bulimia nervosa. Predictors of treatment utilization included lower global assessment of functioning scores and presence of personality disorders., Conclusions: Women with more severe pathology have higher treatment utilization rates. This pattern may explain the seeming lack of treatment efficacy for eating disorders outside of randomized controlled studies.