Psychotherapy Outcome at Youth Clinics — An Integrative Approach

ABSTRACT

The present study was the first of its kind to examine the outcome of psychotherapy offered at youth clinics (YCs) in Sweden. YCs are unique services offering young people easy access to free treatment for physical, sexual, mental and social problems without the requirement for parental consent. The psychotherapies, conducted with 31 participants aged 13–20, were integrative psychodynamic, individually tailored to each patient. A strong emphasis was put on forming positive therapeutic relationships. Whole-group analysis showed significant improvement on the CORE-OM self-assessment questionnaire as well as on the clinician-rated C-GAS, despite relatively short treatment duration and a very heterogenic study population. Analysis of individual change suggested that a large proportion of participants had improved after therapy, even though some of the therapies were still ongoing at the point of follow-up. Interview data helped to shed light on factors within and outside of therapy that contributed to the experience of change. Moreover, the qualitative analysis helped to create a better understanding of some of the differences that had emerged between participants’ and therapists’ assessments. The results support the need for youth-oriented services that offer young people easy access to individualized psychological treatment conducted in a collaborative and flexible manner.

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank the clinical teams at the Youth Clinics in Uppsala County Council.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Amelie Swartling

Amelie Swartling is a licensed clinical psychologist (MSc) with a Postgraduate Diploma in Psychotherapy. She has a long experience in psychotherapy with adolescents and young adults. Amelie is currently working at the St Lukas organization in Uppsala which offers individual psychotherapy, supervision and education within the psychology field. She holds a teacher’s degree of Master of Science in upper secondary education.

Julia Pertoft Nemirovski

Julia Pertoft Nemirovski is a licensed clinical psychologist (MSc) and Operations director at the Student Health Centre, Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. Julia has previously published in Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry (2014), and the European Journal of Psychotherapy and Counselling (2014).