Psychotherapy Practice Among Child And Adolescent Psychiatrists In Thailand
- Author:
Sirichai Hongsanguansri
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
Psychotherapy, Child, Adolescent, Psychiatrists, Thailand
- From:ASEAN Journal of Psychiatry
2016;17(2):227-238
- CountryMalaysia
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
To survey patterns of psychotherapy practice of child and adolescent
psychiatrists in Thailand, including identifying obstacles to conduct
psychotherapy. Methods: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study. A selfreported
questionnaire was developed by the authors and sent to all child and
adolescent psychiatrists in Thailand by mail. Results: The total number of child
and adolescent psychiatrists in Thailand at the time of the survey was 176. There
were 95 respondents (54.0 % response rate), with the average age of 39.7 ± 9.8
years old. 67 (70.5%) respondents were female. Respondents endorsed
conceptual frameworks used in case formulation and treatment planning as
following: learning and cognitive theory (68.8 %), Eriksonian theory (41.3 %)
and attachment theory (34.8%). Only 6.4 % of respondents reported that they
provided psychotherapy to their patients “frequently” and “very frequently”.
Instead, the majority of respondents provided just only counseling and parenting
advice & guidance, parent management therapy (PMT). Respondents estimated
that 36.3 ± 24.0 % of their patients should be treated with psychotherapy but in
real-life practice, they provided psychotherapy for 5.1 ± 8.6 patients/ week in the
past year. Psychotherapies that most children and adolescent psychiatrists used
were behavioral therapy, supportive psychotherapy and cognitive-behavioral
therapy (73.3 %, 71.8 %, and 56.5% of respondents reported to conduct
“frequently” and “very frequently," respectively). Main obstacles in performing
psychotherapy were heavy workload, lack of readiness of patients and lack of
confidence by child and adolescent psychiatrists. Conclusion: Although
psychotherapy is considered an essential treatment in child and adolescent
psychiatry practice, child and adolescent psychiatrists in Thailand provide
psychotherapy to only a small number of patients. Behavioral therapy,
supportive psychotherapy and cognitive-behavioral therapy were the most
frequently used psychotherapiesby Thai child and adolescent psychiatrists. Lack
of time to engage in psychotherapy due to heavy workload was the most common
obstacle in providing this treatment. ASEAN Journal of Psychiatry, Vol. 17 (2):
July – December 2016: XX XX.
- Full text:P020170619575855592413.pdf
