Short- and Long-Term Treatment Study
Principal Investigator: Dr. Jonathon Rabinowitz (formerly JBFCS)
Consultant: Irving Lukoff, PhD (CUSSW)
This investigation was an exploratory study of some characteristics
of clients, workers and problem areas that influence the decision-making
of clinicians at JBFCS. The design consisted of a series of vignettes
with three different descriptions. For each symptom configuration
clients were differentiated by age, sex, and ethnicity. The three
symptom pictures that were chosen reflect commonly noted ones in outpatient
therapy, closely modeled to reflect DSM-III descriptions: Adjustment Disorder,
Dysthymic Disorder, and Borderline Personality Disorder. Additional
information was also obtained in the clinician's training, years since
graduation, tenure at JBFCS, job-title and demographics. There was
substantial agreement on when it was appropriate to use planned short-term
therapy (PST; defined as up to 12 sessions) or to prefer long-term therapy
(LT).
The study was described in the 1990
issue of
Practice & Research.