Of 3085 therapists surveyed, 1359 replied including 427 social workers, 525 counselors, 270 psychologists, and 24 nurse specialists. They had a mean of 14.3 years of professional experience (range 0 to 49 years). Most practice with a master’s degree (70.4%). They work in a range of settings, including private practice (56.8%), outpatient mental health (26.9%), day treatment (2.3%), residential treatment (10.4%), inpatient (8.5%), schools (6.7%), colleges (5.8%), jail and corrections (1.3%), and managed care organizations (1.2%).
Therapists work on average 38.6 hours per week with 52.7% work time spent on therapy, 18.6% on paperwork and case management, 9.9% on assessment, 7.3% professional reading or continuing education, and 6.5% supervision or consultation. Therapists report that their practice is most influenced by continuing education (endorsed by 73.2%), consultations with colleagues (43.3%), graduate coursework (41.8%), and professional readings (32.7%).
Of participating therapists, 1120 work with children at least part of the time; the average caseload includes 24.1% children, 42.3% adolescents, and 33.6% adults. Treated youths are ethnically diverse (71.6% Caucasian, 23.2% African American, 5.2% other), come from families who are 80.4% low income or below poverty, and are experiencing multiple problems including trauma history (49.3%), depression (48.9%), disruptive behavior (48.8%), and anxiety (35.7%).
Most therapists report using at least some evidence-based treatment strategies (e.g., building a working alliance; identifying and labeling feelings; discussing the connection between thoughts, feelings and behaviors), but other key components of evidence-based treatment are not often used (e.g., pleasant activity scheduling and challenging unrealistic thinking for depression; parent-child relationship building and behavioral parent training for disruptive behavior; relaxation and exposure for anxiety). Consistent with these findings, 75.6% requested MO Therapy Network pursues training in evidence-based treatments for its members.
By: Kristin Hawley, PhD