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Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy in Contemporary Mental Health Services: Current Evidence, Future Role and Challenges
Author(s) -
Brown Kayleigh M.,
Tracy Derek K.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
british journal of psychotherapy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.442
H-Index - 17
eISSN - 1752-0118
pISSN - 0265-9883
DOI - 10.1111/bjp.12074
Subject(s) - psychoanalytic theory , context (archaeology) , mental health , project commissioning , psychotherapist , psychology , payment , mental health care , payment by results , publishing , political science , paleontology , public administration , world wide web , computer science , law , biology
Three interacting challenges are facing all aspects of health care in the U nited K ingdom: financial restraint in the context of a global economic downturn; a move to services being commissioned and decommissioned by primary care Clinical Commissioning Groups; and a need to provide evidence based practice through ‘payment by results’. Psychoanalytic psychotherapy faces more difficulty than most services in mental health, with long and frequent criticisms of it being expensive and under‐researched; and it is not as well understood by GPs as cognitive behavioural therapy, with which it is frequently unfavourably compared. This review provides an overview of the existing evidence for psychoanalytic psychotherapy, identifying strengths and areas that are under explored. We also argue that psychoanalytic psychotherapy has a unique clinical role but this will need to be clearly stated in the future, and promoted by clinicians to encourage future commissioning in the UK .