Why Empirically Supported Psychological Treatments are Important

Abstract

The emergence of managed care and similar reimbursement systems that require greater accountability and the development of clinical practice guidelines have increased the importance of evidence-based clinical practice. As a result of these two trends, it appears as though the future of psychotherapy will require clinicians to deliver a psychological intervention that is supported by research. Such treatments exist for a variety of the most common presenting problems (e.g., anxiety disorders, depression) but to date have frequently gone unrecognized and underutilized. The current article will discuss the importance of identifying, promoting, and disseminating empirically supported therapies with an emphasis on the efforts of the American Psychological Association Society of Clinical Psychology's Committee on Science and Practice.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

American Psychiatric Association. (1993). Practice guidelines for major depressive disorder in adults. American Journal of Psychiatry, 150(Suppl. 4).

Barlow, D. H. (1994). Psychological interventions in the era of managed care. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 1, 109-122.

Barlow, D. H., & Barlow, D. G. (1995). Guidelines and empirically validated treatments: Ships passing in the night? Behavioral Healthcare Tomorrow, 4, 25-29.

Bennett, M. J. (1992). The managed care setting as a framework for clinical practice. In J. L. Feldman & R. J. Fitzpatrick (Eds.), Managed mental healthcare: Administrative and clinical issues (pp. 203-218). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association Press.

Calhoun, K. S, Moras, K., Pilkonis, P. A., & Rehm, L. P. (1998). Empirically supported treatments: Implications for training. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 66, 151-162.

Chambless, D. L., Baker, M. J., Baucom, D., Beutler, L. E., Calhoun, K. S., Crits-Christoph, P., et al. (1998). Update on empirically validated therapies: II. The Clinical Psychologist, 51(1), 3-16.

Chambless, D. L., Sanderson, W. C., Shoham, V., Johnson, S. B., Pope, K., Crits-Christoph, P., et al. (1996). Empirically validated therapies: A project of the Division of Clinical Psychology, American Psychological Association Task Force on Psychological Interventions. The Clinical Psychologist, 49(2), 5-15.

Crits-Christoph, P., Frank, E., Chambless, D. L., Brody, C., & Karp, J. F. (1995). Training in empirically validated therapies: What are clinical psychology students learning? Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 26(5), 514-522.

Depression Guideline Panel. (1993). Depression in primary care: Vol. 2. Treatment of major depression. Clinical practice guideline No. 5 (AHCPR Publication No. 93-0551). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Agency for Health Care Policy and Research.

10.

Sanderson, W. C., & Woody, S. (1995). Manuals for empirically validated treatments: A project of the Division of Clinical Psychology, American Psychological Association Task Force on Psychological Interventions. The Clinical Psychologist, 48, 7-11.

11.

Smith, G. R., & Hamilton, G. E. (1994). Treatment guidelines: Provider involvement is critical. Behavioral Healthcare Tomorrow, 4, 40-45.

12.

Task Force on Promotion and Dissemination of Psychological Procedures. (1995). Training in and dissemination of empirically validated psychological treatments. The Clinical Psychologist, 48, 3-23.

13.

Weisz, J. R., Hawley, K. M, Pilkonis, P. A., Woody, S. R., & Follette, W. C. (2000). Stressing the other three Rs in search of empirically supported treatments: Review procedures, research quality, relevance to practice and public interest. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 7, 243-258.

14.

Wolfe, B. E., & Maser, J. D. (Eds.). (1994). Treatment of panic disorder: A consensus statement. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association Press.

15.

Woody, S. R., & Sanderson, W. C. (1998). Manuals for empirically supported treatments: 1998 update from the task force on psychological interventions. The Clinical Psychologist, 51(1), 17-21.