A practice‐based exploration of therapeutic change in a charitable, community‐based person‐centred counselling service using routine outcome measures of anxiety and depression. I: Statistical and clinically significant change

Young, Jennifer; Widdowson, Mark; Tate, David

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundEstablishing the value of differing treatments for depression and anxiety is crucial in a climate of delimited spending and increased demand. Drawing from a well‐founded, diverse evidence base is salient to constructive evaluation and any subsequent recommendations being fit for purpose.DesignThis study employed a practice‐based quantitative design to explore therapeutic gains in adult counselling clients attending person‐centred therapy (n = 301), delivered in a charitable, community‐based UK service.MeasuresOutcome measures PHQ‐9 and GAD‐7 were used from three time points: initial assessment (IA), first ongoing session and last or 6th ongoing appointment (whichever occurred first; T1, T2 and T3).AnalysisRepeated measures ANOVA, CSI, RI and RCSI calculations were used to consider significant change in clients.FindingsReductions in PHQ‐9 and GAD‐7 outcome measures were observed over time (between T2 & T3 and T1 & T3) and were all statistically significant (p = <0.001). By T3: CSI was achieved by 48.1% of clients on PHQ‐9 and 50.8% of clients on GAD‐7, RI was achieved by 47.8% of clients on PHQ‐9 and 60.5% of clients on GAD‐7, and RCSI was achieved by 32.6% of clients on PHQ‐9 and 41.2% of clients on GAD‐7.ConclusionsThe treatment observed resulted in effective outcomes equivalent to other therapies reviewed in the literature for clients' symptoms of anxiety and depression as measured by GAD‐7 and PHQ‐9.

Citation

Young, J., Widdowson, M., & Tate, D. (2023). A practice‐based exploration of therapeutic change in a charitable, community‐based person‐centred counselling service using routine outcome measures of anxiety and depression. I: Statistical and clinically significant change. Counselling and Psychotherapy Research, 23(4), 1072-1083. https://doi.org/10.1002/capr.12651

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Mar 26, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Apr 22, 2023
• Publication Date: Apr 23, 2023
• Deposit Date: May 3, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: May 3, 2023
• Journal: Counselling and Psychotherapy Research
• Print ISSN: 1473-3145
• Publisher: Wiley
• Volume: 23
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 1072-1083
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/capr.12651
• Keywords: Psychiatry and Mental health, Applied Psychology, Clinical Psychology
• Publisher URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/capr.12651