Criteria for psychotherapeutic outcome

In an attempt to investigate the results of a variety of psychotherapies offered in the psychiatric clinic of the Beth Israel Hospital, we have used twelve outcome criteria for improvement. Findings on 53 patients treated by 14 therapists are presented, and a tentative comparison is made between a homogeneous group of patients who received short-term and long-term psychotherapies. Although a somewhat higher percentage of the long-term patients obtained symptomatic improvement compared to the short-term ones, impressive changes in motivation for change, self-esteem and interpersonal relations seem to have taken place in the short-term psychotherapy group.