A practice-based exploration of therapeutic change in a charitable, community-based person-centred counselling service using routine outcome measures of anxiety and depression. I: Statistical and clinically significant change

Abstract

Background: Establishing the value of differing treatments for depression and anxiety is crucial in a climate of delimited spending and increased demand. Drawing from a well-founded, diverse evidence base is salient to constructive evaluation and any subsequent recommendations being fit for purpose. Design: This study employed a practice-based quantitative design to explore therapeutic gains in adult counselling clients attending person-centred therapy (n = 301), delivered in a charitable, community-based UK service. Measures: Outcome measures PHQ-9 and GAD-7 were used from three time points: initial assessment (IA), first ongoing session and last or 6th ongoing appointment (whichever occurred first; T1, T2 and T3). Analysis: Repeated measures ANOVA, CSI, RI and RCSI calculations were used to consider significant change in clients. Findings: Reductions in PHQ-9 and GAD-7 outcome measures were observed over time (between T2 & T3 and T1 & T3) and were all statistically significant (p = <0.001). By T3: CSI was achieved by 48.1% of clients on PHQ-9 and 50.8% of clients on GAD-7, RI was achieved by 47.8% of clients on PHQ-9 and 60.5% of clients on GAD-7, and RCSI was achieved by 32.6% of clients on PHQ-9 and 41.2% of clients on GAD-7. Conclusions: The treatment observed resulted in effective outcomes equivalent to other therapies reviewed in the literature for clients' symptoms of anxiety and depression as measured by GAD-7 and PHQ-9.