The relationship between session frequency and psychotherapy outcome in a naturalistic setting

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Clinical Psychology
• Psychotherapy Research

Background:

• The dose-response relationship in psychotherapy is well-researched, but session frequency's role as a
• dose
• component is understudied.
• Existing research suggests session frequency impacts recovery speed and magnitude.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the clinical significance of session frequency in psychotherapy within a naturalistic setting.
• To investigate the relationship between session frequency and recovery trajectories in university counseling clients.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a 17-year archival database of Outcome Questionnaire 45 (OQ-45) measures from 21,488 university counseling center clients.
• Employed multilevel modeling to analyze change trajectories, incorporating session frequency.
• Compared weekly and fortnightly therapy attendance groups for differences in recovery speed and clinically significant change using multilevel regression models.

Main Results:

• Increased therapy session frequency correlated with steeper recovery curves (Cohen's f2 = 0.07).
• Clients attending weekly sessions achieved clinically significant gains faster than those attending fortnightly.
• No substantial differences were observed between weekly and fortnightly groups in the overall amount of therapeutic change.

Conclusions:

• Findings confirm that higher session frequency is associated with faster psychotherapy recovery, supporting its clinical significance.
• Session frequency is a key factor for enhancing psychotherapy efficiency.
• Consideration of session frequency is crucial for treatment planning, institutional policies, and future research.