Helping clinical psychologists select the best form of psychotherapy for a particular client with a particular problem requires a way to communicate to them the results of comparisons of clinical interventions. In this article, David Tolin and his associates take a detailed look at where communication needs to be improved, and they recommend actions to take now while the field undertakes a long-range process to develop better standards.
Abstract
Over the 20 years since the criteria for empirically supported treatments (ESTs) were published, standards for synthesizing evidence have evolved and more systematic approaches to reviewing the findings from intervention trials have emerged. Currently, the APA is planning the development of treatment guidelines, a process that will likely take many years. As an intermediate step, we recommend a revised set of criteria for ESTs that will utilize existing systematic reviews of all of the available literature, and recommendations that address the methodological quality, outcomes, populations, and treatment settings included in the literature.
Citation
Tolin, D. F., McKay, D., Forman, E. M., Klonsky, E. D., & Thombs, B. D. (2015). Empirically supported treatment: Recommendations for a new model. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 22(4), 317–338.
Dr Martin Fracker 