What do patients find helpful in psychological therapy for depression?
Research type
Research Study
Full title
What do patients find helpful in psychological therapy for depression? A comparison of group and individual therapy.
IRAS ID
199107
Contact name
Ian Russell
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
King's College London
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 4 months, 3 days
Research summary
What do patients find helpful in psychological therapy for depression? A comparison of group and individual therapy.
Throughout the United Kingdom, clinical guidelines advocate both individual psychological therapy and group psychological therapy in the treatment and management of depression (NICE, 2009). Prior investigation indicates that these structurally different therapies yield similar clinical results. For instance, in a recent exploratory study conducted by Brown et al (2011), no significant differences were reported in depressive symptoms between group and individual cognitive behavioural therapy for depression, both at post-treatment and at follow-up. Such findings are consistent with prior research in the field (Lockwood, Page and Conroy-Hiller, 2004).
Given the governmental cuts in the mental health sector (Docherty and Thornicroft, 2015), alongside research demonstrating that group psychological therapy can be employed at a lower cost than individual psychological therapy (Brown et al, 2011), an exploratory comparison of what patients find helpful in group and individual psychological therapy is necessary. The current study aims to compare what patients find useful in receiving psychological therapy for depression, either in a group or individual setting. This will be achieved by recruiting individuals aged 18-65 who have engaged in either group based psychological therapy or individual psychological therapy for depression within the last four months. If interested, participants will be asked to complete a 60-minute Interview, investigating what aspects of therapy they found most helpful. This interview will be conducted at Southwark IAPT clinic rooms. This research will enable therapists to enhance content and optimise positive outcome of therapy.
REC name
London - Camberwell St Giles Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/LO/0890
Date of REC Opinion
21 Jul 2016
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion