title: General practitioner as psychotherapist.
abstract: The importance of general practitioners attending to the emotional problems of their patients is demonstrated. Evidence has been presented concerning the feasibility and cost effectiveness of general practitioners developing the skills required to manage such disorders. A model for training general practitioners in counselling and interviewing skills, and in the more complex psychological therapies, is presented. It is argued that such an integrated approach would produce results superior to the present fragmented approach.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001315:Australia; D001521:Behavior Therapy; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D004502:Education, Medical, Continuing / Q000191:economics; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009497:Neurotic Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D010821:Physicians, Family / Q000193:education; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000191:economics; D011613:Psychotherapy / Q000191:economics; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000191:economics