Delivering group psychoeducational CBT in Primary Care: Comparing outcomes with individual CBT and individual psychodynamic-interpersonal psychotherapy

Within psychological services in Primary Care, service providers are expected and required to deliver clinical services that are prompt, safe and effective. However, long wait-times for treatment are common, with attendant clinical chronicity and risk issues. Evaluations of group-based treatments in Primary Care, which are clinically more efficient than individual treatments, are extremely scarce. The current evaluation attempted to appraise the effectiveness of a service innovation of introducing group-based psychoeducational cognitive-behaviour therapy (CBT; N = 43), by comparing outcomes with clients treated in individual CBT (N = 68) and individual psychodynamic-interpersonal psychotherapy (N = 65). Group psychoeducational participants completed validated scales of psychological functioning (Beck Depression Inventory - 2, BDI-2; Brief Symptom Inventory, BSI; Inventory of Interpersonal Problems, IIP-32; and General Health Questionnaire, GHQ-12) at assessment, start of group, termination of group and 3-month follow-up, whereas participants in the individual therapies completed measures only at initiation and termination of treatment. The results indicate broad similarities between the outcomes achieved by the three services, with rates of clinically significant improvements and deteriorations comparable in the main across services. The results are discussed in terms of identified methodological limitations, service implications and models of service delivery for the psychological therapies in Primary Care.