This paper provides an overview of the study conducted by A.J Macdonald (1994) on Brief therapy in adult psychiatry. With thorough analysis, it expresses concerns about the structure and lack of focus in controlling the research. It outlines strengths and limitations within its core assumptions to the research model in the context of the findings and the outcome of the research. Through considering multiculturalism, family socioeconomic status and other extraneous variables, it will lead to more valid and reliable research method to help in contributing to better knowledge on the effectiveness of brief therapy.
Literature Review:
Brief therapy in adult psychiatry
With increase in interest in Brief Therapy, researches were conducted in an attempt to verify its effectiveness within the field of psychotherapy. The purpose of the study conducted by Macdonald was to assess the effectiveness of a brief family therapy in adult psychiatric settings as there are limited studies available. Notion of family interaction and training in family began to rise with its importance and issues such as financial and staffing limitations to achieve more cost effective and short term therapies began to elevate which resulted in the use of brief therapy described by Fisch et al (1982). Regardless of the intention, Macdonald failed in setting a clear base structure of the research as simplistic definition of brief therapy was only was only referred to Fisch et al. Therefore, lack of detail in introducing the research seemed vague and disorganised.
The research questions addressed by this study were: Is family interaction effective in brief therapy and with follow up, has the problem diminished, or gotten worse? The independent variable in this study was family contact and the dependent variable was good, neutral and worse outcomes. Good outcome refers to whether clients were able to overcome their problems. Bad outcome refers to a