Evidence-Based Therapies

By now it must be obvious that patients have a huge number of choices when it comes to selecting a treatment for their symptoms. As such, it is becoming increasingly important for the field of Clinical Psychology to create and deliver effective treatments for patients' symptoms. Fortunately, the past few decades have seen an explosion in research into the efficacy and effectiveness of different psychological interventions. This section is intended to highlight a few of the therapies that the research has shown to be effective for psychiatric problems.   

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (or "CBT" for short) is a specialized form of psychotherapy that emphasizes the important roles that our thoughts and behaviors play in impacting how we feel. It is important to realize, however, that there is not one type of CBT, but rather many different therapies that can be classified as cognitive-behavioral in nature. These therapies include:

• cognitive therapy ("CT")
• behavior therapy ("BT")
• rational emotive behavior therapy ("REBT")
• cognitive processing therapy ("CPT")
• dialectical behavior therapy ("CBT")
• assertiveness training
• relaxation training
• stress inoculation training ("SIT")
• systematic desensitization

In general, all cognitive-behavioral therapies share the following characteristics:

• they focus on the “here and now” rather than the past
• they are brief and time-limited (about 15-20 sessions)
• the sessions are structured, goal-oriented, skills-based and directive
• a sound therapeutic relationship is considered necessary for effective treatment, but is not the focus of the therapy
• they rely on an 'active collaboration' between the patient and therapist (a “collaborative empiricism” in which the patient is the expert on him or herself, and the therapist is the expert on CBT)
• the sessions are instructional in nature and homework exercises are a key element in the treatment
• 'relapse prevention' is built into the treatment so high risk situations can be anticipated before treatment finishes
• the end goal is having the patient become his/her own 'therapist' so down the road they can take on life's challenges without necessarily needing to go back into treatment

At this point, there is a great deal of research supporting the use of CBT for anxiety, mood, and sleep disorders, as well as many other problems. In many studies, CBT has been found to produce outcomes superior to other types of psychotherapy. In fact, in a lot of cases, CBT has been found to be as good as - or even better than - medications! I encourage you to take a look at the "Key Research Findings" section, as I will include a summary of many of the studies that have examined CBT.

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