ABSTRACT

Seeking treatment from qualified mental health therapists in outpatient practices is a major step in mental health recovery and maintenance, yet it is a step that is not always effective nor do those seeking treatment always feel satisfied with their overall care. The present study hopes to explore the relationship between the length of time a client is in treatment as well as the mental health conditions being treated by a mental health counselor with how satisfied they were with the treatment and its effectiveness. A group of 40 participants partook in a Mental Health Treatment Satisfaction Survey online as the form of data collection. Within the survey, questions regarding their level of care, the satisfaction of their care, and how effective they believed their care was were asked to judge an overall satisfaction score. Regression analysis did show a slight trend towards significance in the amount of time an individual spent in the treatment leading to better overall feelings of satisfaction and effectiveness, yet the number of mental health conditions the individual was diagnosed with showed little to no trend towards significance in regard to therapeutic satisfaction and effectiveness. Confounds of this study may include whether or not they sought treatment from multiple therapists and how much time has passed since seeing a therapist. These can be considered in future research. Current knowledge in this field will benefit from the analysis of mental health outpatient care overall satisfaction with the treatment they received in order to contribute to better quality and efficiency of treatments regarding the length of time they sought treatment and the mental health conditions they sought treatment for.