A Comparison of Therapy Alone Versus Therapy and Medication in a Community Clinic

Research to date suggests that the best treatment for many mental disorders is provided through the combination of medications and psychotherapy (e.g., Hollon, Thase, & Markowitz, 2002). However, the majority of studies supporting this point have been done utilizing highly restricted, controlled samples that may not accurately reflect the way mental illness is treated in the community. The present study attempted to replicate those findings in an outpatient community clinic. One hundred seventy-four adult clients who presented to a community clinic were rated as to their illness severity at both intake and termination of therapy using the Clinical Global Impression Scale and the Global Assessment of Functioning. These clients were divided into groups based on whether or not they took psychotropic medications at any point during therapy. Results showed that clients who took medications fared no better than clients who did not. These preliminary findings suggest that the combination of medications and psychotherapy may not be as effective in the "real world" as prior studies have implied, and point to the need for further research utilizing community samples.