Short-Term Existential Psychotherapy in Primary Care: A Quantitative Report. (July 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Rayner, Mark; Vitali, Diego
• Is Part Of: Journal of humanistic psychology. Volume 56:Number 4(2016)
• Page Start: 357
• Page End: 372
• Publication Date: 2016-07
• Subjects: short-term psychotherapy -- integrative psychotherapy -- existential therapy -- phenomenological psychology -- depression; Humanistic psychology -- Periodicals; 150.192
• DOI: 10.1177/0022167815569884
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0022-1678

Abstract

Existential Experimentation is a short-term integrative psychological therapy intervention. It is based on the recent government initiative focusing on recovery and thus integrates central ideas from existential theory, utilizes a phenomenological methodology, and applies considerations of human potential from humanistic psychology to support recovery and aim for well-being. This work explores the outcomes of a systematic application of this approach to working-age adults referred for a psychological intervention for depression and/or anxiety in terms of (a) reducing depression and/or anxiety symptomatology, (b) reducing the level of perceived psychological distress, and (c) reducing the need for psychological services. The sample consisted of working-age adults referred to primary care by their general practitioner. The patients' relevant symptomatology was assessed at every contact using Patient Health Questionnaire-9 and Generalized Anxiety Disorder–7, and the level of psychological distress was monitored using CORE-OM. Pre–post effect sizes were evaluated using Cohen's d . Patients' access to psychological services was monitored at 6 and 12 months after discharge. The large effect sizes expressed show that this therapeutic approach operates effectively in reducing the symptomatology of depression and/or anxiety, while promoting significantly low relapse and dropout rates.