Review of research in supportive psychotherapy: an update

Supportive psychotherapy techniques are widely practiced not only for hospitalized or chronically ill psychiatric patients, but also, on a relatively short-term basis, for patients in acute crisis situations. It has also been found effective for patients with medical illnesses to help them develop more effective coping mechanisms, thereby providing a more favorable long-term course of illness. In spite of the growing practice of this approach to therapy, it is apparent that to date neither the number nor the quality of controlled studies of supportive psychotherapy has increased substantially since empirical studies of this form of treatment were reviewed in 1986. However, with its growing acceptance in the field as a body of specific goals, strategies and techniques that can be taught, perhaps we may now expect to see an increase in better designed and controlled studies that utilize objective and measurable assessment techniques, and that include a follow-up of sufficient length to enable valid statements to be made concerning efficacy.