How useful is Psychotherapy?

How effective is the therapy provided by the YSTC:

There are many ways to measure the effectiveness of psychotherapy, here at the YSTC we utilise standardised questionnaires and we ask all our clients for feedback at the end of psychotherapy. Please find below the most recent results:

Feedback Comments

I never thought that I could change, but I did, my life is now so much better.
Thank you, at last I’m free.
I’ve changed my outlook and changed my life.
I’m living life to the full now!
I feel that I’ve got my life back.

Beck Depression Inventory 2

The BDI-II consists of 21 items to assess the intensity of depression in clinical and normal patients. Each item is a list of four statements arranged in increasing severity about a particular symptom of depression. These new items bring the BDI-II into alignment with DSM-IV criteria. The scores are: 0-13 - minimal depression; 14-19 - mild depression; 20-28 -moderate depression; and 29-63 - severe depression. Higher total scores indicate more severe depressive symptoms.

Beck Anxiety Inventory

This is a 21 item self-report questionnaire designed to elicit how much anxiety the client is experiencing. A grand sum between 0 – 21 indicates very low anxiety.  A total that is sum between 22 – 35 indicates moderate anxiety. A total that exceeds 36 is a potential cause for concern. 

Impact of Event Scale (IES)

This self-report scale measures the degree of psychological impact caused by a traumatic event. It reflects the degree to which individuals experience a traumatic incident, the degree of intrusiveness these re-experiences have for them, as well as possible attempts by individuals to use avoidance / numbing mechanisms in dealing with the consequences of the event.

Intrusion subscale is made up of items 1, 4, 5, 6, 10, 11, 14.  Avoidance Subscale items: 2, 3, 7, 8, 9, 12, 13 & 15.  These subscales are added up to obtain a total score.

Full-Scale Scores above 26 are associated with significant emotional distress.  The Impact of Event Scale is not a formal measure of PTSD.  It does however indicate whether the client experiences mostly intrusive or avoidance symptoms in an attempt to deal with the painful consequences of a trauma and is useful in deriving “before” and “after” treatment effects. 

Hospital Anxiety and Depressions Scale (HADS)

This self-report questionnaire was designed to detect adverse anxiety and depression states. The two sub scales measure respectively anxiety and depression. On each sub scale, higher scores indicate a greater number of symptoms and a greater severity of the emotional state.  Unlike the next test, the General Health Questionnaire, the Depression Scale of the HADS does not indicate suicidal depressive thoughts.

Score Ranges for the HADS:

General Health Questionnaire (GHQ28)

The General Health Questionnaire is one of the most cited scales in psychiatric research and is a screening questionnaire often used to discern positive psychiatric conditions as well as to derive scale scores on four aspects of psychopathology, common in primary care and community settings.  There are four sub scales (shown below) with 28 items distributed evenly in each. 

A total score of 13 or more ‘nearly always indicates a positive psychiatric condition’. The aftermath of a trauma could also involve significant distress, which might measure above 13 on the GHQ. The client’s pre-morbid history usually enables the clinician to make a judgment as to whether high scores on the GHQ relate to the traumatic life event or pre-event problems.