One or two session psychotherapy with university students.

Abstract One or two session psychotherapy has a long history, and well-known practitioners have made use of it. Favorable results have been reasonably well documented. Often it has been done out of necessity, less frequently because all were satisfied that it sufficed. Problems that lend themselves to one or two sessions are: psychological work which has already been done but for which affirmation is sought, requests for diagnostic evaluation, and less often but more challenging, intrapsychic conflict requiring uncovering work. Patient characteristics and therapist attitudes are discussed. For one or two sessions of treatment to occur the therapist must be alert to the possibility, must assess quickly when a case is in hand, set the process in motion, and determine a satisfactory stopping point. It is suggested that the college population lends itself especially well to one or two sessions of psychotherapy, not only from the standpoint of the limited resources of many student health services but also for ...