Clinical psychology: a consultative approach in general practice

Abstract

General practitioners tend to regard psychologists as an alternative resource for patients. This paper describes an approach to clinical psychology in general practice in which a team of psychologists works with a general practitioner on a consultancy basis. In this way the psychologists and general practitioner work together, with the general practitioner retaining responsibility for the patient. The method pays special attention to the context in which the problems occur, and to the set of relationships in which difficulties are experienced. The relevance of brief focused work is discussed and illustrated with clinical examples.