Trustful Collaboration Critical for Outcome of Therapy

(© Image: Adobestock) - A trusting therapeutic relationship and outcome-oriented collaboration between therapist and patient are critical for the successful treatment of mental illness. And it pays to start early in therapy, a series of meta-studies by a task force of the American Psychological Association (APA) led by UZH psychology professor Christoph Flückiger shows. Depression, anxiety, addiction - 30 percent of the world's population experience mental illness at least once in their lifetime. Times of uncertainty and isolation such as the current coronavirus pandemic bear a particular risk. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), mental illness is one of the greatest and most stigmatized problems of modern societies. Intense efforts are under way in the healthcare sector to improve the relevant treatment options and make them as cost-efficient as possible. Psychotherapy has been shown to be a flexible and low-threshold primary treatment option.