Patients Stay with Web-based and Phone Therapy Longer Than Office Visits

The problem with psychotherapy has long been that nearly half the patients quit going after a few sessions. Therapy can’t work if patients stop coming to the therapist’s office.

But a new meta-analysis has found that when patients receive psychotherapy over the phone or on-line, most of them continue with the therapy.

Researchers from Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine have taken the first "snapshot" of telephone-administered therapy studies around the country. Telephone therapy is becoming more widely used by health care providers and employee-assistance programs.

The new study found that the average attrition rate in the telephone therapy was only 7.6 percent compared to nearly 50 percent in face-to-face therapy. The telephone therapy also was effective in reducing symptoms with results that appear to be similar to face-to-face treatment.

"The problem with face-to-face treatment has always been very few people who can benefit from it actually receive it because of emotional and structural barriers," said David Mohr, professor of preventive medicine at the Feinberg School and lead author of the study, published in the September issue of Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice. "The telephone is a tool that allows the therapists to reach out to patients, rather than requiring that patients reach out to therapists."