Will health insurance once again pay for long-term, psychodynamic psychotherapy? On October 3, President Bush signed the financial bailout bill, which is also the Mental Health Parity and Equity Act. Two days earlier, the prestigious journal JAMA published an analysis that found extended individual therapy, with a minimum duration of one year or 50 sessions, to be an especially effective treatment for chronic mental illnesses, including personality disorders and mood disorders. In one study in the survey, patients with treatment-refractory depression and anxiety were seen for a mean of 310 sessions over three-and-a-half years. So: are we there yet? Read More