Published online by Cambridge University Press: 29 January 2018
Conventional Child Guidance treatment includes a diagnostic “work-up” of five to ten hours and then weekly psychotherapeutic and casework interviews for the child and mother which last for months or years and are very expensive of professional time. There have been few reports of evaluation of such treatment, though Levitt (1963) combined the results of a number of studies to include nearly 10,000 child patients. Of those who received treatment, between two-thirds and three-quarters were improved, but a similar improvement rate occurred in those who were not treated. Eisenberg and Gruenberg (1961) found short-term treatment as effective as intensive psychotherapy, and Phillips and Johnston (1954) and Phillips (1960) claimed better results with short than with conventional treatment. Among the few reports from Britain is that of Barbour and Beedell (1955). They found no difference in outcome between treated and untreated cases or between short and long methods of treatment.
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