This paper reports on the effectiveness of psychological therapy for anxiety and depressive symptoms offered to over 1000 adult clients, seen through the Better Access (Medicare rebate) scheme in a specialist private psychology group practice in Geelong. It provides extensive additional objective evidence to supplement findings from the official evaluation report on the Better Access scheme released in March 2011.
Clients were offered a range of psychological interventions consistent with a cognitive-behavioural treatment approach. A range of outcome measures was used with therapy clients across the whole practice to evaluate not only changes in anxiety and depressive symptoms, but also therapeutic alliance and positive psychological health and wellbeing.
Outcome measures included the Outcome Rating Scale (ORS) and Session Rating Scale (SRS), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), the Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS) and the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS). These measures were typically administered at sessions 1, 5, 10 and the final session enabling observations about the rate as well as the amount of clinical change.
In addition to overall findings based on the above measures, data will be presented on the treatment progress and outcomes of over 500 clients treated with depressive conditions treated both with and without medication. These data point to the potential impact of the planned reduction in rebatable sessions to no more than ten sessions per calendar year for such conditions as Major Depressive Disorder.
