The influence of marital and family therapy on health care utilization in a health-maintenance organization

Research has shown that people reduce their use of health care after individual psychotherapy. However little research has been done to learn if marital and family therapy has a similar effect Subjects (n = 292)from a health-maintenance organization were randomly selected according to the type of therapy they had received. Subjects' medical records were examined for 6 months before, during and after therapy. Those who received marital and family therapy significantly reduced their use of health care services by 21.5%. These results show an "offset effect" for marriage and family therapy.