San Diego Psychologist: Therapy Works for Troubled Teens: New Evidence
Although it is not new evidence that therapy can be effective for children and adolescence, a new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association indicates that single-episode (30min) talk therapy sessions for kids in the ER for violent injuries can drastically reduce future incidents of violence.
The article reports that the original study centered around a program called SafERteens which “involved more than 700 kids aged 14 to 18 who had visited an emergency department in Flint, Mich., from noon and 11 p.m. any day of the week between September 2006 and September 2009.”
Results showed that “after three months, participants in the therapist arm showed a 70 percent to 76 percent reduction in violence, including peer aggression, compared with the controls.” Most strikingly, the article points out that that the authors (headed by Maureen A. Walton, Ph.D., research associate professor, department of psychiatry, Addiction Research Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor) concluded “for every 10 kids seen, a single 30-minute intervention would prevent one violent episode in the future.”
I think this is an extremely significant conclusion indicating the effectiveness of psychotherapy in our society to reduce teen violence and alcohol abuse. Furthermore, although it may cost at cost to the hospitals etc, it is likely that it may reduce cost in the long run as a result of overall teen violence.
Article available at: http://consumer.healthday.com/Article.asp?AID=641797
Original study available at: http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/304/5/527
Dr. Schwartz
San Diego Psychologist