Extended problem solving treatment for depression

Abstract

Introduction: Effective brief psychological approaches for depression that can be delivered by a variety of health professionals with minimal training increase access to treatment by patients. Problem Solving Treatment (PST) was developed for primary care and was modified for this study (EPST) to better meet the needs of mental health patients. Method: A total of 92 therapists from different professional backgrounds completed EPST workshops and treated 92 patients with major depression with interval clinical and treatment process assessments. Results: EPST achieved a significant reduction in depressive symptom scores, life problem scores, and there were few treatment non-completers. Treatment outcome was predicted by process and therapist variables. Discussion: EPST is an effective and easy to teach treatment that can be delivered by a variety of practitioners and suitable for busy primary mental health care settings.

Keywords:

• depression
• counselling
• primary mental health care
• comorbidity
• therapy process
• therapist characteristics

Acknowledgements

I would like to express my gratitude to the University of Queensland, Department of Psychiatry and Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital for their support of this study. My thanks also to the clinicians and patients who volunteered to participate.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Matthew Bambling

Biographies

Matthew Bambling is a senior lecturer in psychiatry and course coordinator for the post-graduate mental health programmes for the University of Queensland, School of Medicine. Matthew has published in the fields of supervision, psychotherapy outcome, training of therapists and mental health and health psychology.

Robert King

Robert King is a professor of clinical psychology at the Queensland University of Technology, School of Psychology.