[Follow-up of patients of the Department of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatic Medicine of the Psychiatric Clinic of the University of Munich. Attempt at an evaluation of the effect of psychotherapeutic counseling].

In order to find out the patients reaction to psychotherapeutic counselling and to see if a psychotherapy suggested by the counselling therapist was accepted by the patients, a questionnaire survey was made. 71.3% of the questionnaires were answered. Half of the patients had followed the advice and began a psychotherapy. The subjective reaction to counseling was equally positive, rather positive and negative. These results are often found in psychotherapeutic follow-up studies. In accordance with literature it was also found that neurotic patients in contrast to those with mainly psychosomatic and psychovegetative complaints, younger and middle class patients, women as well as patients coming spontaneously were more likely to undergo psychotherapeutic treatment than their comparison groups. Further it was found: Men were more often advised to begin a behaviour-therapy, women to undergo psychoanalysis. Patients who had been treated in the University Psychiatric Hospital were more likely to follow the advice given by the counselling therapist than those patients being sent by other hospitals or general practitioners. If the counselling therapist provided a possibility where his client could begin with psychotherapy immediately, the client was more likely to undergo therapy than if he had to arrange for psychotherapeutic treatment mainly by himself.