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Evaluation ViewAttendees 10

Mini Workshop

Treatment - Other

Transdiagnostic Treatment to Reduce Distress and Enhance Motivation Among Patients on Waitlists: Single-Session Consultation

Mini Workshop 20 - Transdiagnostic Treatment to Reduce Distress and Enhance Motivation Among Patients on Waitlists: Single-session Consultation

Sunday, November 23, 2025
10:00 AM - 11:30 AM CST
Location: Strand 11A&B, Level 2
Earn 1.5 Credit
Recorded Session
Keywords: Transdiagnostic , ,
Level of Familiarity: Basic to Moderate
Recommended Readings: Schleider, J.L., Sung, J.Y., Bianco, A., Gonzalez, A., Vivian, D., & Mullarkey, M.C. (2021). Open pilot trial of a single-session consultation service for clients on psychotherapy waitlists. The Behavior Therapist, 44, 8-15,   Sung, J. Y., Buggati, M., Vivian, D., & Schleider, J. L. (2023). Evaluating a telehealth single-session consultation service for clients on psychotherapy wait-lists. Practice Innovations, 8, 141-161. ,   Schleider, J. L., Zapata J.P., Rapoport, A., Wescott, A., Ghosh, A., Kaveladze, B., Szkody, E., & Ahuvia I. (2025). Single-session interventions for mental health problems and service engagement: umbrella review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 21.,   Kasujja, R., Sotomayor, I., Birungi, P., Ndeezi, M., Szkody, E., & Schleider, J. L. (2024). Open Pilot Trial of a Single Session Consultation Service for Clients at StrongMinds Uganda. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/8a4gy ,   Sung, J., Sotomayor, I., Szkody, E., & Schleider, J. L. (2024). Provider Hesitancy Toward Single-Session Interventions for Mental Health Problems: Malleability and Implications for Adoption in Routine Care Settings. https://doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/h4nm
The demand for mental health services continues to exceed the availability of providers, creating widespread waitlists for care. In 2022, 60% of U.S. psychologists were unable to take new patients, with waitlists exceeding more than 4 months. Extended wait times can worsen mental health conditions, erode trust in the healthcare system, and lead to missed appointments or early treatment drop-off. Rising administrative costs and burdens also contribute to burnout among providers. Scalable service delivery models are needed to provide interim care for those awaiting treatment. These models must be flexible enough to meet diverse needs while minimizing strain on under-resourced providers and systems. Single-session interventions (SSIs), structured programs that involve just one clinic visit, provider meeting, or clinical encounter, can bridge gaps in the mental healthcare system given their concise format, relative ease of training, and low burden on systems of care.
One form of SSIs, the Single-Session Consultation (SSC) is grounded in Solution-Focused Brief Therapy, emphasizing clients’ inherent strengths and capacity for change as opposed to deficit-based approaches. By centering the conversation on what is working for the client and their goals for the future, SSCs provide immediate support in a collaborative and empowering manner. The SSC has been shown to reduce common mental health symptoms and increase motivation for change among people waiting for longer-term mental health care, regardless of the primary problem for which they are seeking treatment. Within the SSC, a provider sees a help-seeking individual within days of their first outreach for treatment, thereby eliminating waits for services and capitalizing on early motivation for change. The SSC has been delivered with fidelity by professional and lay-providers with varying levels of expertise and across different clinical settings.

Session Outline:
● Introduce the SSI model and assumptions
○ Definition of SSIs and presentation of the SSC as a type of SSI
○ Key Assumptions of the SSC
○ Evidence the SSIs
● Introduce the SSC
○ Research base of the SSC (e.g., in person format, telehealth format)
○ Appropriate target population
● The SSC Model
○ Walk through the SSC Action Plan
■ Setting the stage with introductions and risk assessment
■ Establishing a shared purpose
■ Top Problem
■ Top Hope
■ The Miracle Day Question
■ Exceptions to the Problem
■ Action Plan (Three Steps)
■ Inner Obstacle
■ Note from Clinician
○ Frequently Asked Questions
● Practicing the SSC with Case Study in small groups
○ Questions and Answer Session
● SSC application and implementation
○ Waitlists of outpatient clinics
○ Safety planning tool in high-risk settings
○ Non-traditional care settings (e.g., corporate, schools)
● Implementation Considerations
○ Acute care settings
○ Insurance coverage
○ Training and ongoing supervision models
○ Task sharing with lay providers

Learning Objectives:

At the end of this session, the learner will be able to:
  1. List key principles of Solution-Focused Brief Therapy and their application to SSCs.
  2. Apply practical techniques to conduct SSCs in clinical practice, emphasizing client strengths and goals.
  3. Describe how to structure an SSC session from beginning to end.
  4. Identify the evidence supporting the use of SSCs.
  5. Create an actionable implementation plan to introduce SSCs into their own mental health service contexts.
  6. Long-term Goal: Recognize the application of SSC in multiple care settings to increase accessibility to evidence-based mental health services, especially for underserved populations.
  7. Long-term Goal: Describe the tools and resources to adopt SSCs effectively in their practices to foster sustainable, scalable service delivery models that emphasize client empowerment and equity.