Download Evaluating Therapies

Evaluating Therapies
Effectiveness of psychotherapy
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Clients’ perceptions (testimonials)
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Bad coming in, better coming out – is it
therapy or time?
Did I pay for nothing?
Positive view of therapists even if not better
Don’t forget:
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Often ignore some testimonials and remember
the ones we want
Need to compare to control group (McCord,
1978,1979)
Effectiveness of psychotherapy
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Clinicians perceptions
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Failures are someone else’s – one client = multiple
successes
All treatments seem to be successful
Placebo effect
Regression toward the mean
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Outcome research
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Eysenck (1952) ineffective analysis
Mary Lee Smith et al (1980) did meta-analysis
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Those undergoing therapy are more likely to improve than
those not in therapy
Relative effectiveness of therapies
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According to the Society of Clinical Psychology:
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Cognitive Therapy, interpersonal therapy, & behavioral
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Cognitive, exposure, & stress inoculation training
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Used with bulimia
Behavior modification
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Best for anxiety
Cognitive-behavior therapy
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Best for depression
bed wetting
The more specific the problem the more effective the
therapy
Need well trained therapists to continue effectiveness
Commonalities
Culture & values
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Biochemical therapies
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Drug therapies
Brain stimulation
psychosurgery
Preventing psychological disorders