Paper Title

Length of psychotherapy for clients seen in private practice

Authors

Profile picture of Mary P. Koss
Mary P. Koss

Keywords

  • Psychotherapy Length
  • Private Practice
  • Short-Term Therapy
  • Long-Term Therapy
  • Treatment Duration
  • Therapy Sessions
  • Psychotherapy Trends
  • Client Retention
  • Mental Health Treatment
  • Private Clinic
  • Psychological Services
  • Therapy Effectiveness
  • Treatment Termination
  • Brief Therapy Techniques
  • Client Characteristics
  • Psychotherapy Research
  • Counselor Client Relationship
  • Mental Health
  • Psychotherapy
  • Time

Journal

Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology External link

Research Impact Tools

DOI

DOI Icon 10.1037/0022-006X.47.1.210

Publication Info

Volume: 47 | Issue: 1 | Pages: 210–212

Published On

March, 1979

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Abstract

Length of treatment for all clients (N = 100) seen for psychotherapy during 1975 by 7 therapists in a private practice psychological clinic was examined to determine the relative frequency of long-term (>25 sessions) vs short-term (≤25 sessions) psychotherapy. Clients were young, middle class, intelligent, and mildly to moderately disturbed. The median length of treatment was 8 sessions. Fully 80% of the clients had left treatment before receiving 25 sessions. This finding mirrors the trend for public treatment settings. Results reaffirm the necessity of further research and development of short-term treatment techniques designed to effectively utilize the brief time even private clients spend in psychotherapy.

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