The case for single-session therapy: does the empirical evidence support the increased prevalence of this service...

A significant increase in the number of walk-in counselling clinics offering single-session therapy (SST) prompted this review of the empirical support for the effectiveness of SST.

The article is intended to (1) increase practitioners' knowledge of the empirical support for the effectiveness of single-session counselling with client populations typically served in community-based mental health and counselling agencies and (2) identify priorities for future research on SST.

A thorough review of relevant databases was undertaken to locate published studies reporting client outcomes following SST. The focus of the review is research involving clients and presenting problems typically seen in community-based mental health and family counselling agencies.

The findings suggest that the majority of clients attending either previously scheduled or walk-in SST find it sufficient and helpful. The studies imply that this model of service delivery leads to perceived improvement in presenting problems in general, and on specific measures of variables such as depression, anxiety, distress level and confidence in parenting skills.

Many of the studies have methodological limitations, and future research requires increased use of standardized measures, control groups and larger and more diverse samples.