Activity in Initial Interviews With Lower-Class Patients

Abstract

Psychotherapy of lower social class patients has been under study at Temple University Medical Center for two years. Review of the literature reveals that much has been written about the therapy of the lower social class patients^* since the pioneering study of Hollingshead and Redlich.¹⁶ Most of the studies agree that the lower class patient is less likely to seek psychiatric outpatient care, and when referred many are likely to drop out of treatment in a very short time. This high drop-out rate has been an important focus of the project. Rosenthal and Frank²³ at the Phipps Psychiatric Clinic reported that 47% of their patients stopped treatment in less than six sessions; Overall and Aronson²⁰ found that 57% of the patients at University of Maryland Psychiatric Institute drop out after the first interview; Bahn and Norman¹ presenting