Long and short-term psychotherapy. Is brief always better?

Long-term psychodynamic psychotherapy (LTPP) has suffered at the expense of briefer forms of therapy, such as cognitive and family therapy. However, a review of studies into the effectiveness of LTPP has found that it can have a large and positive effect. The review looked at 11 randomised controlled trials and 12 observational studies. The pooled results suggested that psychodynamic therapy could work better for people with complex mental illnesses than briefer alternatives.

JAMA 2008; 300:1551-1565