Clinical Psychology - Does Psychotherapy Work?

Patient's condition improved only with the passage of time

People who have dropped out of therapy

Experiment based on highle controlled scientific model

Variable measured on several occasions

Baseline -> Treatment -> Baseline 2 (treatment removed) -> Treatment; assume treatment led to change, not passage of time, for specific behaviors

Evaluate effect of treatment without discontinuing it by observing several problems at once, but applying different treatment to one of them; if treatment is causing specific effects, targeted behavior is the only one that will change

Experimental (treatment) and control (no treament/placebo) groups; statistical difference means treatment is better than nothing

No treatment, partial treatment, complete treatment groups

All possible combinations of treatment components are tested

Renders untested therapies as ineffective (if they haven't been empirically evaluated)

Self-report on multivariable measure (3 subscales)

Individual (goal is happiness, measure is self-esteem and well-being), Society (goal is fulfillment of social roles, measure is observation of behaviors), Therapist (goal is "healthy" personality structure, measure is clinical judgment and test battery)

If patient's target problem(s) get worse or they develop new problems

Conducting therapy online or over the telephone, making it more accessible (but introducing confidentiality and ethical concerns)

Requires ongoing justification for treatment from therapists