How has the establishment of brief therapy in a short-term unit affected the work in the outpatient services of a community mental health center?

Abstract: How has the establishment of brief therapy in a short-term unit influenced the outpatient services of a community mental health center? The demand on mental health services is increasing. One community mental health center in Central Norway had an increase of 42 % in referrals of patients in need for outpatient treatment from 2009 to 2014, calling for innovative treatment approaches. In 2016, the community mental health center established an outpatient clinic to provide brief therapy, limited to between 6 and 10 treatment sessions and focusing on cognitive therapy approaches. The intention was to provide treatment on the lowest effective care level and reduce waiting time. The aim of this study was to investigate how the implementation of the brief therapy unit had influenced the outpatient services. Eleven key personnel participated in qualitative in-depth interviews about the implementation of the brief therapy unit and the overall work in the center’s outpatient units. Administrational data such as waiting time and patient flow were collected to support and elaborate on the findings. Preliminary results showed that the establishment of the brief therapy clinic was followed by a temporary decrease in demand and referrals. In line with this, the implementation was described as an answer to a crisis in the community mental health center. Approximately three years afterwards, the brief therapy unit was described as a specialized and celebrated unit “in the forefront”, but “outside” the rest of the organization. The other outpatient units were, on the other hand, described as "the forgotten units". The implementation had challenged the professional treatment culture in the center and enlightened different views on the center’s work and which patients to give priority to. The final results of this study will be presented at the conference.