The effectiveness of psychotherapy. The Consumer Reports study

• Published in: The American psychologist Vol. 50; no. 12; p. 965
• Main Author: Seligman, M E
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.12.1995
• Subjects: Consumer Behavior; Humans; Managed Care Programs; Outcome and Process Assessment (Health Care); Psychotherapy; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; Treatment Outcome
• ISSN: 0003-066X
• DOI: 10.1037/0003-066X.50.12.965

Consumer Reports (1995, November) published an article which concluded that patients benefited very substantially from psychotherapy, that long-term treatment did considerably better than short-term treatment, and that psychotherapy alone did not differ in effectiveness from medication plus psychotherapy. Furthermore, no specific modality of psychotherapy did better than any other for any disorder; psychologists, psychiatrists, and social workers did not differ in their effectiveness as treaters; and all did better than marriage counselors and long-term family doctoring. Patients whose length of therapy or choice of therapist was limited by insurance or managed care did worse. The methodological virtues and drawbacks of this large-scale survey are examined and contrasted with the more traditional efficacy study, in which patients are randomized into a manualized, fixed duration treatment or into control groups. I conclude that the Consumer Reports survey complements the efficacy method, and that the best features of these two methods can be combined into a more ideal method that will best provide empirical validation of psychotherapy.