The Future of Psychotherapy in the Age of Diminishing Resources

Recent changes in the model of health care delivery and mechanisms of reimbursement pose a major challenge to psychologists as independent providers of psychotherapy. The past 15 years have seen a burgeoning of both prepaid health maintenance organizations (HMOs) and preferred provider organizations (PPOs), with predicted growth to include the vast majority of Americans by the 1990s (Mayer u0026 Mayer, 1985). Psychotherapy is generally constrained to time limited, problem focused interventions; moreover, the role of professional psychology within these organizations is far from guaranteed. Professional psychology must actively participate in this revolution in health care through aggressive efforts to: guide public policy and legislation with regard to psychologists; foster a philosophy and approach that reflects flexibility, cooperation with other disciplines, and creative treatment of emotional problems; and through development and evaluation of concepts and models of time limited therapy in theory and prac...