Performance of Mental Health Counselors in Integrated Primary and Behavioral Health Care

Integrated primary and behavioral health care (IPBH) is becoming a preferred mode of service delivery in the United States. Integrated care includes the participation of medical and mental health professionals, such as mental health counselors. The clinical outcomes of these professionals need to be studied to determine their effectiveness in such settings. We examined the performance of 10 mental health counselors on the clinical outcome of 1,747 clients treated in an IPBH center. Analyses using growth curve modeling and pre‐post test design revealed that mental health counselors were effective overall, but they differed in client dropout rates and efficiency in reducing clients' initial symptoms. We used the analyses to rank order counselors based on their effectiveness. Counselors who were the most effective varied in their efficiency but demonstrated the lowest client dropout rates. Implications for future research and counseling practice were discussed.     

Counselor performance in treating anxiety and depressive symptoms in integrated care: A client outcomes study

Depression and anxiety are two of the most common mental disorders treated in Integrated Primary and Behavioral Healthcare programs. We investigated the within and between performance differences of mental health counselors on anxiety and depressive symptomatology in an integrated service with a sample of 1573 clients and 10 licensed professional counselors. The results of growth curves within the framework of Multilevel Modeling showed significant within and between performance differences among counselors treating anxiety and depressive symptoms. Some counselors performed better in treating anxiety symptoms while others did better treating depression. Implications for counselor education, client care, and legislation are provided.