Teaching Consultation-Liaison Psychotherapy: Assessment of Adaptation to Medical and Surgical Illness

Abstract

Little has been written about teaching consultation-liaison inpatient psychotherapy to residents or other trainees. Resident interviews at completion of consultation-liaison training identified learning needs. In response, the authors created a seminar series and modified it reiteratively eight times. In this approach, the primary task of consultation-liaison psychotherapy assessment is to determine the success of a patient's adaptation to hospitalization, and to identify obstacles to adaptation. Selected determinants of adaptation are reviewed and organized as individual factors and intrahospital and extrahospital environmental factors. This provides a viable means of organizing and integrating disparate bodies of knowledge for the student. The teaching model awaits empirical validation as a tool that enhances teaching and patient care outcomes.