Why psychiatrists are doing less and less talk therapy
sessions? A study recently published in the American Journal of Psychiatry by Daniel Tadmon and Mark Olfson examines “Trends in Outpatient Psychotherapy Provision by U.S. Psychiatrists: 1996-2016.”
These investigators examined data from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey. This is an annual survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to obtain “a nationally representative sample of outpatient visits to non-federally funded and non-hospital-based physicians’ practices.” The survey instrument defines psychotherapy as the intentional administration of verbal techniques targeting a person’s emotional life in order to reduce symptoms.
What did the study demonstrate? The researchers found that the percentage of psychiatrist visits involving psychotherapy lasting more than 30 minutes decreased steadily from 1996 to 2016. For the bulk of their analyses, the investigators divided the data into three 7-year intervals: 1996–2002, 2003–2009, and 2010–2016.