Effectiveness of Outpatient Psychotherapy in Switzerland (PAP-S study): Study design and feasibility

Abstract

In the context of the demand for evidence-based medicine, also psychotherapy is expected to demonstrate its effectiveness. For this reason, the Swiss Charta for Psychotherapy, the umbrella organization for psychotherapy education and training institutions in Switzerland, launched a prospective, naturalistic psychotherapy outcome study in 2004. All member institutions of the Charta were invited to participate in the study. In Switzerland many types and subtypes of psychotherapy continue to exist. The study therefore also provides the unique opportunity to investigate whether therapists belonging to the different schools of therapy in fact utilize the techniques declared to be specific to their types of psychotherapy, or whether, for instance, there are just a few techniques that are widely utilized.  

This article primarily presents the study design and the descriptive data in the baseline survey. Participating were 86 therapists at nine psychotherapy institutes. They recruited a total of 362 patients (238 women, 124 men) aged 17 to 72 years. With regard to the five most important outcome instruments, 80% of the patients had a rating in the dysfunctional range on at least one instrument. Ninety percent of the patients had a diagnosed disorder on Axis I of the DSM-IV. Further analyses of the data will yield outcome and process-outcome results. 

Keywords: Psychotherapy, outcome study, prospective naturalistic design, psychotherapeutic techniques