When to offer cognitive behavioural or psychoanalytic psychotherapy in an integrated psychotherapy service: Are everyday allocation decisions theoretically congruent?

Abstract

Different modes of psychotherapy can be an effective form of treatment for a range of mental health problems. Psychotherapy provision in the NHS is organised in a variety of ways, with patient entry to various modes of therapy determined by a range of factors including evidence-based guidelines and patient or referrer preference. The methods by which patients arrive at a particular mode of psychotherapy are largely unreported. This paper aims to describe this process in one UK NHS psychotherapy service offering cognitive behavioural and psychoanalytic psychotherapy, and provides data to inform a discussion on the theoretical congruence of these allocation decisions.

Keywords:

• Cognitive behavioural therapy
• psychoanalytic psychotherapy
• allocation
• health service