An Exploratory Study of Session Limited Models of Therapy Outcomes in an Employee Assistance Program

<p>Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) have grown increasingly popular over recent years. The prevalence of organizations utilizing and investing in EAP services for their employees has grown; however, companies that purchase EAPs are not well-informed as to which session-models are most effective for various diagnoses. The current study is the first to explore treatment outcomes of session-limited models (measured by Therapist Perception of Change, TPC) for diagnoses (anxiety and depression) in an EAP delivery system. Outcomes were measured by TPC ratings including: a) Regressed, b) remained at Baseline, c) Improved, and d) issue was Resolved. Analyses (Chi-Square and =t-test) were used to assess TPC ratings across session models (3-8), diagnoses (anxiety and depression), and number of sessions completed. The results found associations between TPC, EAP Session Models, and diagnoses, X²(33, N = 3816) = 87.049, p < .001. A relationship was found between EAP Session Model completion, and participant outcome ("Resolved" TPC rating), X²(3), N = 3816) = 112.511, p < .001. It was found that a lower percentage of clients seeking EAP services for a depression diagnosis improved (M = .73, SD = .445) compared to those with an anxiety diagnosis (M = .79, SD = .411), t(3812.732) = 4.078, p < .001). Therapist ratings of client symptoms did show improvement for both anxiety and depression. The EAP Session Models most associated with therapist ratings of improvement were Models 3 and 6 for both anxiety and depression. The results indicated more participants who therapists rated as having resolved their issue also completed their entire session model compared to those who did not complete their model. The results of this study are promising as therapists rated the majority of clients as improved regardless of session model. While EAPs provide treatment for a variety of diagnoses, persons who are diagnosed with anxiety or depression seem to benefit from brief treatment. This is important since a large proportion of the workforce struggles with anxiety and depression. Future directions for research should expand on the current study by using standardized measures for outcomes and investigating a broader range of diagnoses.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Year dc:date.available

2018

Author dc:creator

• Donaldson, Ivy C

Contributors dc:contributor

• Bruce Uhrmacher, Ph.D.
• Maria T. Riva, Ph.D.
• Patton Garriott
• Antonio Olmos

• Anxiety
• Depression
• EAP
• Employee assistance program
• Session limited psychotherapy
• Therapist perspective of change
• Counseling Psychology
• Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy
• Psychology

Statement dc:rights

• <p>Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.</p>

Language dc:language

en

Repository record dc:identifier

https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/1456

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.du.edu:etd-2456