Psychotherapy Quality Assessment

Abstract

In the first section of this paper, Dr. Whitaker argues that there are both practical and heuristic reasons for developing a systematic method for assessing the quality of psychotherapy in a university mental health service. He maintains that, though the task of psychotherapy quality assessment is a complex undertaking, it is possible to take steps toward its accomplishment in a responsible way while still keeping the task within manageable proportions. In the second section, Dr. Sarnat describes one in a series of efforts at quality assessment at the Mental Health Division of the University of Massachusetts Health Services. She describes the development of a new method of recordkeeping and record review, and the results of a review of three different samples of records. She concludes that the method is feasible, useful, and meaningful for quality assessment in that setting, although the method is admittedly limited in what it can measure. In the final section, Dr. Arnstein comments on the above, adding a note of caution about both the feasibility and the wisdom of embarking on a program of quality assessment of psychotherapy. He elaborates some of the difficulties that may prevent one from arriving at a valid assessment.