Psychology 645

Psychology 645.4 (Intervention)

Psychotherapy Outcome Research

Fall Semester, 2005 (First five weeks, August 24-September 21)

2:00 - 5:00 Wednesday

At the first meeting, we will discuss goals and how best to organize our time and resources to meet them. Here are some suggestions:

Organizing Questions

1. Does psychotherapy work? How do you know?

2. Which is the best psychotherapy for each disorder? How do you know?

You may find that you need to reframe these questions in order to address them.

Optional Texts

Lambert, M. J. (Ed.) (2004). Bergin and Garfield's Handbook of Psychotherapy and Behavior Change, 5th edition. New York: Wiley.

This is a standard reference work, updated recently. It is an expensive book, and you will probably have time to read only a few of the chapters during the this module. On the other hand, you will likely have occasion to refer to it later.

We may also consider a new book:

Norcross, J. C., Beutler, L. E., & Levant, R. F. (Eds.) (2005). Evidence-based practices in mental health: Debate and dialogue on the fundamental questions. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

The essays in this volume are not systematic reviews, but rather opinion pieces by researchers and reviewers who are active in the field. They may be fun to discuss.

Reading

Read what you need to address each question and support your response with argument and evidence. In addition to the Handbook, and the Norcross et al. volume, I will provide a list of resource readings, and I will make reprints of selected articles and chapters available on electronic reserve or as photocopies that may be read in the clinic workroom or re-copied. Please do not remove the articles from the workroom except to copy them.

Journals containing relevant articles include Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology; Journal of Counseling Psychology; Psychotherapy Research; Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice; Clinical Psychology Review; Archives of General Psychiatry; Psychotherapy; British Journal of Clinical Psychology; Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, and Practice; Cognitive Therapy and Research; Person-Centered and Experiential Psychotherapies; Behavior Therapy; Psychological Medicine; Journal of Clinical Psychology; .... .

Many of these are available electronically through the library:

http://www.lib.muohio.edu/ejournals/

If you're interested in how I've thought about some of these issues, you might look at;

Haaga, D. A. F., & Stiles, W. B. (2000). Randomized clinical trials in psychotherapy research: Methodology, design, and evaluation. In C. R. Snyder & R. E. Ingram (Eds.), Handbook of psychological change: Psychotherapy processes and practices for the 21st century (pp. 14-39). New York: Wiley.

Stiles, W. B., Honos-Webb, L., & Surko, M. (1998). Responsiveness in psychotherapy. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 5, 439-458.

Stiles, W. B., Shapiro, D. A., & Elliott, R. (1986). "Are all psychotherapies equivalent?" American Psychologist, 41, 165-180.

I've requested that these be put on electronic reserve at the library:

http://www.lib.muohio.edu/reserves/

Class Time

Class time will be devoted mainly to discussion of the organizing questions and the readings.

Each week, bring a one-page written summary of questions and comments on reading you have done, to fuel discussion. Bring notes on both evidence and methods that seem to bear most directly on the organizing questions and methodological points that seem important to you. Also bring arguments, and alternative viewpoints from your reading or observation.

Written Work

Two essays or reaction papers, one due at the third class meeting, the other due at the last class meeting. Each may concern one of the two organizing questions. However, you may decide to qualify or restate or deconstruct the question or to address only some aspect of it that seems interesting to you. Support your position by summarizing arguments and citing evidence.

Grades

Unless we devise a different system, I will turn in a grade based equally on (a) your presence at and participation in the class meetings, and (b) the quality of your essays.