Effectiveness of psychodynamic-oriented counselling intervention in reducing psychological distress in university students seeking help

ABSTRACT

The outcome of a psychodynamic counselling intervention for students seeking psychological help at a university counselling centre in Italy was evaluated by examining its effect on clinical symptoms of the students. The intervention consisted of four counselling sessions and a later three-month follow-up session. The sample (N = 160) was drawn from a population of 360 university students. An in-treatment group (n = 86) was compared to a waiting-list comparison group (n = 74). Post-test measures were administered one month after baseline for each group. The psychodynamic counselling intervention was found to be a valid method to reduce psychopathological symptoms and to improve psychological adjustment among university students.

KEYWORDS:

• University students
• distress
• seeking help
• psychodynamic counselling intervention
• clinical symptoms

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

All data generated or analysed during this study are included in this published article.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Rita Cerutti

Rita Cerutti, PsyD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy. Her current research focuses on: psychological counselling for university students, somatisation and psychological distress in adolescence, self-injurious behaviour with particular attention to Non-Suicidal Self-Injury (NSSI) in adolescence, social withdrawal and self-reclusion in adolescence, and behavioural addictions and related psychopathology in adolescents.

Giuseppe Stefano Biuso

Giuseppe Stefano Biuso, PsyD, is a PhD Student in the Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy. His current research focuses on: psychological counselling for university students, and somatic symptoms and psychological distress in adolescence and young adulthood.

Francesco Dentale

Francesco Dentale, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy. His current research focuses on the development and validation of: assessment tools and data analysis models useful in the clinical and psychodynamic fields; and implicit measures of constructs for clinical and psychodynamic interest such as the concept of self, pathogenic beliefs, attachment styles.

Valentina Spensieri

Valentina Spensieri, PhD, is a Research Fellow in the Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy. Her current research includes psychological counselling for university students, somatic symptoms and psychological distress in childhood/preadolescence, shyness in childhood, and behavioural addictions in preadolescence and related psychopathology.

Aldo Gambardella

Aldo Gambardella, PsyD, is a postgraduate psychology trainee in the Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy. His current research focuses on psychological counselling for university students.

Renata Tambelli

Renata Tambelli, PsyD, is a Full Professor and Director of the Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy. Her current research focuses on: attachment, the role of affective regulation processes and mental representations in modulating parent–child relationships, the development of assessment tools that can be used both in research and clinical domains, and psychological counselling for university students.