Moorhouse, Sharon; (2000) An Evaluation of the Sociodemography, Presenting Symptoms and Treatment Outcome of Patients Treated with Intercultural Therapy. Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).

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Abstract

Ethnic minorities are traditionally excluded from psychotherapy. This study aimed to see whether a "culturally sensitive'' psychodynamic psychotherapeutic treatment model could be an effective treatment option. A questionnaire based outcome study was carried out at the Nafsiyat Intercultural Therapy Centre. The questionnaires were completed at various stages of therapy, dovetailing with the normal running of the Centre. For each patient, detailed sociodemographic details, presenting issues and therapeutic information was collected. Their psychiatric/psychological symptoms were measured using standardised measures Demographic information was collected on 157 patients assessed (Referred group) during the years 1986-1992. Of these, 52 patients, agreed to take part in the research (Treatment group). They completed a pre- and post- treatment Present State Examination [P.S.E.] and General Health Questionnaire [GHQ 60]. Patients were generally seen for individual therapy, with a significant number seen for 12 sessions or less. Many fulfilled the YAVIS criteria, although they had very complex life experiences and severe presenting symptoms. The majority had not been offered psychotherapy before. The results show little difference between the referred group and the treatment group in terms of their demographic profile. The ethnic balance was similar, although there were a higher number of South Asian patients and the mean age of men was slightly higher in the treatment group. There were difficulties in defining ethnic and cultural origin. There were differences between the Referrer's (symptom-based) and Clinical Director's (causal-based) assessment of the presenting problem. The Clinical Director's and Patient's assessments showed consistency, and were comparable with initial GHQ and P.S.E. scores. Therapists assessments were more conservative. The majority of patients described a good outcome to their therapy. Comparable reductions were found on P.S.E., GHQ and in-house checklist scores. This study shows patients "improve" on several measures after intercultural psychotherapy. These results are discussed in comparison with previous research.

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