The cost-effectiveness of short-term dynamic psychotherapy
Abstract
Short-term dynamic psychotherapy is a group of well-researched brief treatments with over 50 published controlled trials testing its effectiveness against a range of treatment and nontreatment controls. Studied samples are often high users of medical services, hospital services, mental health services and disability insurance. If short-term dynamic psychotherapy is effective, it should translate into demonstrable reductions in medical and social system costs. This review examines whether or not short-term dynamic psychotherapy is a cost-effective treatment.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Brief emotionally focused psychotherapy for such cases produces enormous cost savings to the system.
“Abbass (2002) further made this very clear by documenting the enormous cost savings to the system when such cases are given brief emotionally focused psychotherapy [11].”
From Consequences of Repression of Emotion: Physical Health, Mental Health and General Well Being (2019) · cites this paper as [11]
About 25% of all new specialty referrals and about 20% of all referrals requiring surgery resulted in no particular medical diagnoses.
“A recent study out of the UK discovered that about 25% of all new specialty referrals and about 20% of all referrals requiring surgery resulted in no particular medical diagnoses [10].”
From Consequences of Repression of Emotion: Physical Health, Mental Health and General Well Being (2019) · cites this paper as [10]
Cites
Ridley, D. M., & Jordaan, H. V. F. (1986) · Journal of Clinical Ultrasound · doi:10.1002/jcu.1870140619 · Cited by 861 · see citing works
The cost-effectiveness of psychotherapy and paroxetine for severe irritable bowel syndrome
Creed, F., Fernandes, L., Guthrie, E., Palmer, S., Ratcliffe, J., Read, N., Rigby, C., Thompson, D., & Tomenson, B. (2003) · Gastroenterology · doi:10.1053/gast.2003.50055 · Cited by 443 · see citing works
Guthrie, E., Patton, G. C., Kapur, N., Mackway-Jones, K. C., Chew-Graham, C. A., Moorey, J., Mendel, E., Marino-Francis, F., Sanderson, S., Turpin, C., et al. (2001) · BMJ · doi:10.1136/bmj.323.7305.135 · Cited by 394 · see citing works
Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy
Davanloo, H. (1977) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 246 · see citing works
Help-Seeking for Psychiatric Disorders
Bland, R. C., Newman, S. C., & Orn, H. (1997) · The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1177/070674379704200904 · Cited by 227 · see citing works
A randomized controlled trial of psychotherapy in patients with chronic functional dyspepsia
HAMILTON, J. D., Guthrie, E., Creed, F. H., Thompson, D. G., Tomenson, B., Bennett, R., Moriarty, K. J., Stephens, W. J., & Liston, R. (2000) · Gastroenterology · doi:10.1053/gast.2000.16493 · Cited by 199 · see citing works
Short-term dynamically oriented psychotherapy: A review and meta-analysis
Anderson, É. (1995) · Clinical Psychology Review · doi:10.1016/0272-7358(95)00027-m · Cited by 196 · see citing works
Guthrie, E. (1999) · Archives of General Psychiatry · doi:10.1001/archpsyc.56.6.519 · Cited by 179 · see citing works
Psychodynamic psychotherapy and clomipramine in the treatment of major depression.
Burnand, Y., Andreoli, A., Kolatte, E., Venturini, A., & Rosset, N. (2002) · Psychiatric Services · doi:10.1176/appi.ps.53.5.585 · Cited by 125 · see citing works
Abbass, A. A. (2002) · American Journal of Psychotherapy · doi:10.1176/appi.psychotherapy.2002.56.2.225 · Cited by 67 · see citing works
Self-citationComparative Outcome in Time-Limited Individual and Group Psychotherapy
Budman, S. H., Demby, A., Redondo, J. P., Hannan, M. T., Feldstein, M., Ring, J. M., & Springer, T. (1988) · International Journal of Group Psychotherapy · doi:10.1080/00207284.1988.11491085 · Cited by 47 · see citing works
Cost-Effectiveness of Psychotherapy
Lazar, S. G., & Gabbard, G. O. (2014) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9781315768427-28 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Short-term psychodynamic psychotherapies for common mental disorders
Abbass, A. A., Kisely, S. R., Town, J. M., Leichsenring, F., Driessen, E., de Maat, S. C. M., Gerber, A. J., Dekker, J., Rabung, S., Rusalovs'ka, S., et al. (2014) · Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews · doi:10.1002/14651858.cd004687.pub4 · Cited by 334 · see citing works
Self-citationShort-Term Psychodynamic Psychotherapy for Somatic Disorders
Abbass, A., Kisely, S., & Kroenke, K. (2009) · Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics · doi:10.1159/000228247 · Cited by 280 · see citing works
Self-citationAre psychodynamic and psychoanalytic therapies effective? A review of empirical data
Leichsenring, F. (2005) · The International journal of psycho-analysis · doi:10.1516/rfee-lkpn-b7tf-kpdu · Cited by 227 · see citing works
Short-term psychodynamic psychotherapies for common mental disorders
Abbass, A. A., Hancock, J. T., Henderson, J., & Kisely, S. R. (2006) · Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews · doi:10.1002/14651858.cd004687.pub3 · Cited by 140 · see citing works
Self-citationAbbass, A. A., Town, J. M., & Driessen, E. (2012) · Harvard Review of Psychiatry · doi:10.3109/10673229.2012.677347 · Cited by 146 · see citing works
Self-citationAbbass, A., Sheldon, A., Gyra, J., & Kalpin, A. (2008) · Journal of Nervous & Mental Disease · doi:10.1097/nmd.0b013e3181662ff0 · Cited by 112 · see citing works
Self-citationTown, J. M., Abbass, A. A., & Hardy, G. E. (2011) · Journal of Personality Disorders · doi:10.1521/pedi.2011.25.6.723 · Cited by 79 · see citing works
Self-citationAbbass, A., Town, J. M., & Driessen, E. (2011) · Psychiatry · doi:10.1521/psyc.2011.74.1.58 · Cited by 73 · see citing works
Self-citationIntensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy of treatment-resistant depression: a pilot study
Abbass, A. A. (2006) · Depression and Anxiety · doi:10.1002/da.20203 · Cited by 72 · see citing works
Self-citationDirect Diagnosis and Management of Emotional Factors in Chronic Headache Patients
正木, 大., 福居, 顯., & Purdy, A. (2008) · Cephalalgia · doi:10.1111/j.1468-2982.2008.01680.x · Cited by 56 · see citing works
Abbass, A. A., Campbell, S., Magee, K. D., & Tarzwell, R. (2009) · Canadian Journal of Emergency Medicine · doi:10.1017/s1481803500011799 · Cited by 56 · see citing works
Self-citationLilliengren, P., Johansson, R., Lindqvist, K., Mechler, J., & Andersson, G. (2016) · Psychotherapy · doi:10.1037/pst0000024 · Cited by 45 · see citing works
Consequences of Repression of Emotion: Physical Health, Mental Health and General Well Being
Patel, J., & Patel, P. (2019) · International Journal of Psychotherapy Practice and Research · doi:10.14302/issn.2574-612x.ijpr-18-2564 · Cited by 45 · see citing works
Somatization: Diagnosing it sooner through emotion-focused interviewing.
Abbass, A. A. (2005) · PubMed · Cited by 45 · see citing works
Self-citationA Naturalistic Study of Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy Trial Therapy
Abbass, A. A., Joffres, M. R., & Ogrodniczuk, J. S. (2008) · Brief Treatment and Crisis Intervention · doi:10.1093/brief-treatment/mhn001 · Cited by 42 · see citing works
Self-citationAbbass, A. A., Kisely, S. R., Rasic, D. T., Town, J. M., & Johansson, R. (2015) · Journal of Psychiatric Research · doi:10.1016/j.jpsychires.2015.03.001 · Cited by 40 · see citing works
Self-citationEvers, S., Salvador‐Carulla, L., Halsteinli, V., McDaid, D., & The Mheen Group (2007) · Journal of Mental Health · doi:10.1080/09638230701279881 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
Implementing a Psychotherapy Service for Medically Unexplained Symptoms in a Primary Care Setting
Cooper, A. M., Abbass, A. A., Zed, J., Bedford, L. G., Sampalli, T., & Town, J. M. (2017) · Journal of Clinical Medicine · doi:10.3390/jcm6120109 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
Self-citationThe Cost-Effectiveness of Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy
Abbass, A. A., & Katzman, J. W. (2013) · Psychiatric Annals · doi:10.3928/00485713-20131105-04 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
Self-citationSolbakken, O. A., & Abbass, A. A. (2015) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2015.04.003 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Self-citationSolbakken, O. A., & Abbass, A. A. (2014) · BMC Psychiatry · doi:10.1186/1471-244x-14-12 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Self-citationPsychodynamic Psychiatry in the 21st Century: Constructing a Comprehensive Science of Experience.
Shapiro, Y. (2018) · Psychodynamic Psychiatry · doi:10.1521/pdps.2018.46.1.49 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Intensive Short-term Dynamic Psychotherapy: A Treatment Overview and Empirical Basis
Abbass, A. A., Town, J. M., & Driessen, E. (2013) · Research in Psychotherapy Psychopathology Process and Outcome · doi:10.4081/ripppo.2013.84 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Self-citationThe study of men in short-term and long-term psychodynamic psychotherapy: A brief research note.
Watkins, C. (2012) · Psychoanalytic Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0025183 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy: a review of the treatment method and empirical basis.
Abbass, A. A., Town, J. M., & Driessen, E. (2013) · VU Research Portal · doi:10.7411/rp.2013.002 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Self-citationShapiro, Y., John, N., Scott, R., & Tomy, N. (2016) · Journal of Psychiatric Practice · doi:10.1097/pra.0000000000000161 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Raised consciousness about emotions and health
Abbass, A. A. (2005) · Dalhousie Medical Journal · doi:10.15273/dmj.vol33no1.4226 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Self-citationResponse to the NICE clinical guideline on depression
McQueen, D. (2009) · Staff Publications Online (The Tavistock and Portman) · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Zarzycka, B., Krasiczyńska, B., & Wojtasiński, M. (2025) · Journal of Clinical Medicine · doi:10.3390/jcm14165806 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Sofia, S. A., Lysaker, P. H., & Dimaggio, G. (2017) · Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy · doi:10.1007/s10879-017-9363-x · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Defense Mechanisms in Candidate Patients for Intensive Short Term Dynamic PsychotherapyPreprint
Manavipour, D. (2013) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.2246254 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Nordhus, I. H., & Nielsen, G. H. (2005) · Nordisk Psykologi · doi:10.1080/00291463.2005.10637362
Stein, M. J. (2018) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9780429483844-6
Ziadni, M. S. (2016) · Human Biology
The Psychology of Inner Peace: Discovering Heartfulness
Fatemi, S. M. (2021)
(2009) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-540-68316-2_8
The Cost-Effectiveness of Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy in Public Health Care Settings
Russell, L. A. (2025) · American Journal of Psychotherapy · doi:10.1176/appi.psychotherapy.20240041
He, S., & Shapiro, Y. (2026) · Journal of Psychiatric Practice · doi:10.1097/pra.0000000000000952
- Authors
- Abbass, A. A.
- Affiliations
- Dalhousie University (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Abbass, Allan A
- ORCID
- Abbass, Allan A
- Venue
- Expert Review of Pharmacoeconomics & Outcomes Research
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2003-10
- Volume
- 3
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 535-539
- ISSN
- 1473-7167 (ISSN-L)
- 1744-8379
- OpenAlex
- W1978364785
- Cited by
- 39
- References
- 12
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 2 · 2021: 1 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 4 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 2.48
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Expert Review of Pharmacoeconomics & Outcomes Research (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications
- Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Health Systems, Economic Evaluations, Quality of Life
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Mental Health Treatment and Access
- Keywords
- short-term dynamic psychotherapy, cost-effectiveness, brief psychotherapy, mental health service utilization, medical service costs, disability insurance
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
