Rated casemix of general practitioner referrals to practice counsellors and clinical psychologists

Although evidence‐based guidelines are beginning to be produced as to which psychological therapies might be appropriate for which patients, little is known about how general medical practitioners (GPs) in practice distribute referrals between different psychological therapy services. In a retrospective survey, 19 practice counsellors and 10 clinical psychologists from the same geographical area rated a year's caseload of GP referrals using identical data collection methods. Rated casemix was found to be broadly similar, although practice counsellors rated relationship and bereavement problems as more common in their caseloads (totalling 986 patients), and clinical psychologists rated panic disorder, phobias, and obsessive‐compulsive problems as more common in their caseloads (totalling 320 patients). Depression and anxiety reactions were the most common problems rated in both groups, but the clinical psychologist cases of depression were rated as more severe and complex. Where differences were found, they may have reflected the different ways that counsellors and clinical psychologists conceptualize cases rather than actual differences in casemix. The results are discussed in relation to evidence‐based guideline recommendations about cases appropriate to be seen by practice counsellors and by clinical psychologists in primary and secondary care, and the need to adapt such guidance to local services and skills of practitioners

Anxiety · Clinical Practice · Depression (economics) · Family medicine · General practice · Guideline · Panic disorder · Phobias · Psychiatry · Clinical Psychology · Medicine · Mental Health Treatment and Access · Psychiatric care and mental health services · Psychology · Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications

• Fortigenic qualities of psychotherapists in practice

  Erica F de Lange, Shingairai Chigeza•Journal of Psychology in Africa•2015

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