RCT of brief interventions for depression and co-occurring substance use disorders

Dr Jaime Delgadillo is a researcher and BABCP accredited psychotherapist. His clinical practice focuses on the application of cognitive and behavioural interventions for common mental health problems like depression and anxiety. He completed a PhD in Health Sciences at the University of York, investigating the reliability and acceptability of mental health screening in addiction services. His doctoral research proposed psychometric methods to assess substance users with co-morbid mental disorders and to reliably detect clinically significant symptomatic changes as part of routine outcome measurement. This groundwork eventually laid the foundation for a randomised controlled trial sponsored by the National Health Service (NHS) in Leeds – England, which investigated the feasibility of applying psychological treatments to support dependent substance users with co-morbid depression. Key highlights from these studies include: the development of a stepwise mental health screening strategy to identify vulnerable patients in routine addictions treatment; a detailed investigation of associations between certain mental health symptoms and the use of alcohol and drugs; and the finding that offering psychological treatment co-located in addiction services leads to considerably better engagement compared to offering ‘parallel care’ by psychological therapists located in general primary care clinics. Jaime was awarded the SSA Fred Yates prize in 2013, he joined the editorial board for the journal Advances in Dual Diagnosis, and was awarded a visiting research fellowship at the University of York in 2014. Jaime’s current research portfolio includes studies in the areas of outcome measurement, prediction and feedback in mental health services as well as pragmatic trials of psychological interventions for common mental disorders. He currently works as a researcher, psychotherapist and clinical supervisor in Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust. More details of his published work can be accessed at http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jaime_Delgadillo2.