This week sees the publication of a new academic paper with important implications for many BACP members, as it shows counselling is as effective as CBT in treating depression.
The paper, in BMC Psychiatry, is the result of a collaboration between BACP and the University of Sheffield and compares the effectiveness and efficiency of counselling and CBT in Increasing Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT).
IAPT data collected as part of the 2nd National Audit of Psychological Therapies (NAPT) was analysed for the study.
On a data set of over 33000 clients experiencing depression, results indicated that CBT and counselling were comparable in terms of overall reliable and clinically significant change.
The report found no evidence to suggest that CBT is superior to counselling. In fact, as counselling achieved comparable outcomes in fewer sessions than CBT, it could offer the NHS potential cost savings.
The paper is free to access and read.