The role of counsellors in general practice. A qualitative study

Counselling services in general practice are now widespread but little is known about their nature or role. We therefore carried out in-depth telephone interviews with a representative sample of 72 general practitioners and 60 of their counsellors who had participated in a previous national survey of counselling services in England and Wales. Our aim was to gain greater insight into the functioning of these services in order to determine the most appropriate focus for future research and development. Interviews were semi-structured and focused on service initiation and duration; counsellors' background and training; working arrangements including sources of funding; types of clients; communication between general practitioners and counsellors; perceived advantages and disadvantages to general practitioners, counsellors, and clients; goals, barriers, and proposed changes. Approximately two thirds of counsellors were employed by district health authorities and attached to practices. One third were employed by the practice with the financial assistance of family health services authorities. Practice-employed counsellors appeared a relatively new service innovation whose growth was facilitated by the general practitioner contract of 1991. Practice-employed counsellors were preferred to practice-attached staff in that general practitioners had greater control over the selection of counsellors and their working arrangements. Problems with interprofessional communication were noted in relation to counsellors' wishes to maintain patient confidentiality by not exchanging information about patients with general practitioners. Counsellors received referrals principally from general practitioners and occasionally from other primary health care staff. Self-referral by patients was rare. The problems for which patients were most commonly referred were: stress/anxiety, relationship problems, depression, and bereavement. The principal therapeutic styles were Rogerian counselling, behavioural therapy, and psychodynamic psychotherapy. A quarter described their style as 'eclectic'. Individual, not group, therapy was the norm. Sessions were usually 50 minutes in duration. However, waiting list times, the frequency of sessions, and overall duration of therapy varied enormously. Overall 28% of counsellors held no formal qualification in counselling or in any of the psychotherapies. Counsellors and general practitioners were generally satisfied with the service and identified a wide range of benefits with few disadvantages. The principal problem was said to be that demand exceeded capacity and the principal change proposed was expansion of the service. The findings provide the most comprehensive account to date of the present state and likely future direction of counselling services in general practice and point to the need to: 1. Evaluate the cost-effectiveness of counselling in the management of common psychiatric disorders such as anxiety and depression 2. Establish a national policy for the training and accreditation of counsellors working in general practice settings 3. Educate general practitioners about the organization and role of counselling services with particular attention to interprofessional communication and the maintenance of patient confidentiality.